Results for PUBLPOL

Analysis of how public policy is made in the U.S. Theories from political science and public policy studies are assessed using case studies in contemporary policy areas, including tax, social welfare, and environmental policy. Each student also studies a policy issue of their own choice.

Analysis of organizational processes emphasizing organizations that operate in a non-market environment. Prerequisite: ECON 1.

Ethical and political questions in public service work, including volunteering, service learning, humanitarian assistance, and public service professions such as medicine and teaching. Motives and outcomes in service work. Connections between service work and justice. Is mandatory service an oxymoron? History of public service in the U.S. Issues in crosscultural service work. Integration with the Haas Center for Public Service to connect service activities and public service aspirations with academic experiences at Stanford. [This class is capped but there are some spaces available with permission of instructor. If the class is full and you would like to be considered for these extra spaces, please email sburbank@stanford.edu with your name, grade level, and a paragraph explaining why you want to take the class.]

The relationship between microeconomic analysis and public policy making. How economic policy analysis is done and why political leaders regard it as useful but not definitive in making policy decisions. Economic rationales for policy interventions, methods of policy evaluation and the role of benefit-cost analysis, economic models of politics and their application to policy making, and the relationship of income distribution to policy choice. Theoretical foundations of policy making and analysis, and applications to program adoption and implementation. Prerequisites: ECON 50 and ECON 102B.

Qualified Public Policy students obtain employment in a relevant research or industrial activity to enhance their professional experience consistent with their degree programs. Prior to enrolling students must get internship approved by the Public Policy Program. At the start of the quarter, students must submit a one page statement showing the relevance of the employment to the degree program along with an offer letter. At the end of the quarter, a three page final report must be supplied documenting work done and relevance to degree program. Meets the requirements for Curricular Practical Training for students on F-1 visas. May be repeated for credit.

Overview of the most pressing biosecurity issues facing the world today. Guest lecturers have included former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Special Assistant on BioSecurity to Presidents Clinton and Bush Jr. Dr. Ken Bernard, Chief Medical Officer of the Homeland Security Department Dr. Alex Garza, eminent scientists, innovators and physicians in the field, and leaders of relevant technology companies. How well the US and global healthcare systems are prepared to withstand a pandemic or a bioterrorism attack, how the medical/healthcare field, government, and the technology sectors are involved in biosecurity and pandemic or bioterrorism response and how they interface, the rise of synthetic biology with its promises and threats, global bio-surveillance, making the medical diagnosis, isolation, containment, hospital surge capacity, stockpiling and distribution of countermeasures, food and agriculture biosecurity, new promising technologies for detection of bio-threats and countermeasures. Open to medical, graduate, and undergraduate students. No prior background in biology necessary. 4 units for twice weekly attendance (Mon. and Wed.); additional 1 unit for writing a research paper for 5 units total maximum.

How politicians, once elected, work together to govern America. The roles of the President, Congress, and Courts in making and enforcing laws. Focus is on the impact of constitutional rules on the incentives of each branch, and on how they influence law. Fulfills the Writing in the Major Requirement for Political Science majors.

Public policymaking in the United States is part of a political process that can take years or even decades to play out. A familiarity with the politics of policymaking is key to understanding why some reform attempts are successful while others are not. This course will give students a behind-the-scenes look at how policy actually gets made. Students will gain exposure to the theory and literature behind policy formulation, and engage in debates over historical and contemporary efforts at reform.

The objective of the course is to explore the current international emphasis on organizational ethics. Students will consider in-depth complex ethics matters across business, the non-profit sector, and government. We will unravel the factors contributing to the seemingly pervasive failure of ethics today, including commonalities and links among sectors, through a broad range of international case studies. Examples might include: the Bangladesh garment factory fire and collapse; corruption in Nigeria; the Libor rate-rigging scandal; the US military sex abuse scandal; the GlaxoSmithKline China corruption scandal; racism in international football; drones; social media; and a non-profit sector ethics challenge to be identified. Prominent guest speakers will attend certain sessions interactively. Questions of cultural context, how ethics lags behind technology, ethics and leadership, and ethics and global systemic risks (poverty, financial system meltdown, climate change, cyber terrorism¿) will be considered. Attendance required. Grading is based 25% on short assignments, 35% class participation, and 40% final project. The final project is in lieu of exam on a topic of each student¿s choice. Class participation may include a variety of options beyond simply speaking up in class (e.g. participation on the class web site, assisting other students with presentations or final projects, participation in relevant University events, group discussions during office hours¿).

Introduction to methods of research design and data analysis used in quantitative political research. The course will cover issues that are typically missing from intro stats and econometrics courses but are central to applied political science research. Methods topics include: experimental and observational approaches to estimating causal effects, measuring political preferences from data, working with big data, and effective data presentation and visualization. These topics will be introduced using data sets from American politics, international relations, and comparative politics. The course will include an introduction to the widely used R statistical programming language. Satisfies quantitative methods requirement for the Political Science Research Honors Track. Prerequisites: Stat 60, Econ 102A, or instructor consent.

Applies the principles of economic analysis to historical and contemporary urban and regional development issues and policies. Explores themes of urban economic geography, location decision-making by firms and individuals, urban land and housing markets, and local government finance. Critically evaluates historical and contemporary government policies regulating urban land use, housing, employment development, and transportation. Prerequisite: Econ 1A or permission of instructor.

Primarily for students who expect to write an honors thesis. Weekly sessions discuss writing an honors thesis proposal (prospectus), submitting grant applications, and completing the honors thesis. Readings focus on writing skills and research design. Students select an adviser, outline a program of study for their senior year, and complete a prospectus by the end of the quarter. Enrollment limited to 25.

May be repeated for credit.

Small student teams conduct policy analyses requested by government and nonprofit organizations. With guidance from the instructor and client organization, each team researches a real-world problem and devises implementable policy recommendations to help address it. The project culminates in a professional report and presentation to the client organization. Prerequisites: core courses in Public Policy or consent of instructor.

Analysis of how public policy is made in the U.S. Theories from political science and public policy studies are assessed using case studies in contemporary policy areas, including tax, social welfare, and environmental policy. Each student also studies a policy issue of their own choice.

Analysis of organizational processes emphasizing organizations that operate in a non-market environment. Prerequisite: ECON 1.

The relationship between microeconomic analysis and public policy making. How economic policy analysis is done and why political leaders regard it as useful but not definitive in making policy decisions. Economic rationales for policy interventions, methods of policy evaluation and the role of benefit-cost analysis, economic models of politics and their application to policy making, and the relationship of income distribution to policy choice. Theoretical foundations of policy making and analysis, and applications to program adoption and implementation. Prerequisites: ECON 50 and ECON 102B.

Overview of the most pressing biosecurity issues facing the world today. Guest lecturers have included former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Special Assistant on BioSecurity to Presidents Clinton and Bush Jr. Dr. Ken Bernard, Chief Medical Officer of the Homeland Security Department Dr. Alex Garza, eminent scientists, innovators and physicians in the field, and leaders of relevant technology companies. How well the US and global healthcare systems are prepared to withstand a pandemic or a bioterrorism attack, how the medical/healthcare field, government, and the technology sectors are involved in biosecurity and pandemic or bioterrorism response and how they interface, the rise of synthetic biology with its promises and threats, global bio-surveillance, making the medical diagnosis, isolation, containment, hospital surge capacity, stockpiling and distribution of countermeasures, food and agriculture biosecurity, new promising technologies for detection of bio-threats and countermeasures. Open to medical, graduate, and undergraduate students. No prior background in biology necessary. 2 unit option for once weekly attendance (Wed only); 4 unit option for twice weekly attendance (Mon and Wed); 1 additional units (for a maximum of 5 units total) for a research paper.

Public policymaking in the United States is part of a political process that can take years or even decades to play out. A familiarity with the politics of policymaking is key to understanding why some reform attempts are successful while others are not. This course will give students a behind-the-scenes look at how policy actually gets made. Students will gain exposure to the theory and literature behind policy formulation, and engage in debates over historical and contemporary efforts at reform.

The objective of the course is to explore the current international emphasis on organizational ethics. Students will consider in-depth complex ethics matters across business, the non-profit sector, and government. We will unravel the factors contributing to the seemingly pervasive failure of ethics today, including commonalities and links among sectors, through a broad range of international case studies. Examples might include: the Bangladesh garment factory fire and collapse; corruption in Nigeria; the Libor rate-rigging scandal; the US military sex abuse scandal; the GlaxoSmithKline China corruption scandal; racism in international football; drones; social media; and a non-profit sector ethics challenge to be identified. Prominent guest speakers will attend certain sessions interactively. Questions of cultural context, how ethics lags behind technology, ethics and leadership, and ethics and global systemic risks (poverty, financial system meltdown, climate change, cyber terrorism¿) will be considered. Attendance required. Grading is based 25% on short assignments, 35% class participation, and 40% final project. The final project is in lieu of exam on a topic of each student¿s choice. Class participation may include a variety of options beyond simply speaking up in class (e.g. participation on the class web site, assisting other students with presentations or final projects, participation in relevant University events, group discussions during office hours¿).

Public skepticism about the ability of the political system and public institutions to tackle the big problems facing modern societies challenges policy makers to demonstrate fresh thinking and innovative ideas. This class will explore how the methods and mindsets of design thinking - in particular its emphasis on a human-centered approach - can offer new insights and help lead to policy innovations.nnThis class is a hybrid: a combination of traditional seminar-based instruction with the project-based design challenges found at the d.school. You will focus on a topical policy challenge: poverty and inequality in America, with emphasis on the experience of children six and younger. To gain empathy and insight and drive your project work, all students will engage with individuals and families in the San Francisco Bay Area facing disadvantage; for content depth and context you will engage directly with leading subject experts in a blend of lecture, readings, and short assignments. You must be able to commit to team collaboration that happens outside of class while the design projects are in full swing, including trips off-campus. nnAt the conclusion you will present your ideas directly to senior policy makers from the Bay Area and New York City, and you will create rich media materials that can be shared with those working on solutions to poverty across the US and beyond.

This class provides the economic and institutional background necessary to use "cost-benefit analysis" or CBA to evaluate public policy. We will examine the economic justification for government intervention and apply these concepts in different policy contexts. We will also examine the theoretical foundations and the practical challenges of implementing CBA. The goal of the course is to provide you with the conceptual foundations and practical skills you will need to be thoughtful consumers or producers of CBA.

Individually rational actions can give rise to results that are collectively irrational. For example, the collective result of our consumption decisions is to warm the planet, destroy the world's fisheries, and increase reliance on factory farming; at the same time, the decisions of a single individual seem to have no tangible effect on such things. In light of this, what (if anything) are you as an individual required to do in these and other collective action situations, especially when others are not doing their part to prevent things from getting out of control? For example, are you required to reduce your carbon footprint and avoid products that are produced in ethically objectionable ways? Do you have a duty to vote? Is free-riding always ethically objectionable? Can you be required to 'cooperate' in a situation where you know that most others will 'defect'? Finally, from a real-world policy perspective, how can we bring about the best solutions to these and other collective action problems? Is the best policy response always a straightforward function of the variable features of each case? Interdisciplinary readings from authors in philosophy, politics, economics, and law such as Elinor Ostrom, Peter Singer, and Cass Sunstein. No background will be assumed and no mathematical work will be required. The course will include a module led by an award-winning designer in which students will design table top games that can be used to teach the dynamics of collective action to high school students.

(Same as LAW 333.) Introduction to problem framing and problem solving. Theories and research on heuristics and biases in human inference, judgment, and decision making. Experimental and theoretical work in prospect theory emphasizing loss and risk aversion. Challenges that psychology offers to the rationalist expected utility model; attempts to meet this challenge through integration with modern behavioral economics. Decision making biases and phenomena of special relevance to public policy such as group polarization, group think, and collective action.

Restricted to students writing a master's thesis in Public Policy. May be repeated for credit.

Weekly colloquia speaker series required for M.P.P. and M.A. in Public Policy students. Themes vary each quarter.

Qualified Public Policy students obtain employment in a relevant research or industrial activity to enhance their professional experience consistent with their degree programs. Prior to enrolling students must get internship approved by the Public Policy Program. At the start of the quarter, students must submit a one page statement showing the relevance of the employment to the degree program along with an offer letter. At the end of the quarter, a three page final report must be supplied documenting work done and relevance to degree program. Meets the requirements for Curricular Practical Training for students on F-1 visas. May be repeated for credit.

The modern, knowledge-based economy characterized by: rapid innovation; a dramatic increase in the rate of production of information and decline in the cost of producing it; and pervasive network externalities or increasing returns to scale. Emphasis is on the role of patents and alternative mechanisms for creating incentives for firms to innovate. Topics include: why there may be too much innovative activity; how patent laws may slow rather than help innovation; and the interaction between public and private sector innovation. Prerequisites: 51,102B.

(Same as LAW 564). This interdisciplinary course will survey the current landscape of the global markets as the world continues to progress through the financial crisis. We will discuss the sweeping change underway at the policy level by regulators and legislators around the world as well as the strategic discussions, which will include guest-lecturer perspectives on how affairs may change as a result and where the greatest opportunities exist for students entering the world of finance today. The course will also review, in a non-technical way, the basics of the financial derivatives and other quantitative techniques that are a core part of the global capital markets. The subject matter, by necessity, is multi-disciplinary and the course is particularly suited to those students having an interest in finance-based careers, entering legal, regulatory or public policy positions related to finance or studying the evolution of modern financial markets. Elements used in grading: Class Participation, Attendance, Final Paper. Consent Application: To apply for this course, students must complete and e-mail the Consent Application Form available on the SLS Registrar's Office website (see Registration and Selection of Classes for Stanford Law Students) to the instructors. See Consent Application Form for submission deadline.

(Same as LAW 413R). This policy lab will focus on recommendations for the reform and modernization of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)  -- the granddaddy of our environmental laws.  NEPA is a disclosure statute which requires that before federal officials can issue a permit, commit federal funds, or otherwise take an action that may have a significant impact on the environment, decision-makers must have the opportunity to review an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that analyzes the potential environmental consequences of the proposed action and its alternatives.  Many critics from both the right and left are dissatisfied with the way that NEPA and its state analogues are being implemented, prompting some legislators to advocate statutory overrides and agency officials to expand the use of categorical exemptions.  Meanwhile, NEPA proponents are interested in making the environmental review process more user-friendly and efficient, while preserving its core disclosure requirements.  In this policy lab, students will review, analyze, and develop positions on potential NEPA reform options.  Students will interact with NEPA experts at the White House's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and produce work product that CEQ can use as it responds to Congressional and outside pressure to reform the NEPA process.  Students may normally receive no more than four units for a Policy Lab practicum and no more than a total of eight units of Policy Lab practicums and Directed Research projects combined may be counted toward graduation unless additional units for graduation are approved in advanced by the Petitions Committee. A student cannot receive a letter grade for more than eight units of independent research (Policy Lab practicum, Directed Research, Senior Thesis, and/or Research Track). Any units taken in excess of eight will be graded on a mandatory pass basis.  Elements used in grading:  Class Participation, Attendance, Final Paper.  Consent Application: To apply for this course, students must complete and e-mail the Consent Application Form available on the SLS Registrar's Office website (see Registration and Selection of Classes for Stanford Law Students) to the instructors. See Consent Application Form for submission deadline.

Instructor and program consent required prior to enrollment.

Conventional efforts to fight poverty are not working - it remains an intractable social problem. This class will address one aspect that is gaining increased attention from policy-makers: the connection between adverse childhood experiences and poverty in later life. We will partner with a nationally-recognised pediatric clinic and advocacy organisation, the Center for Youth Wellness in San Francisco. Focusing on the diagnosis and treatment of toxic childhood stress, students will help design solutions that can be spread and scaled across the US. This is a complex area that is ripe for design thinking - and one that has tough constraints. We want students who are generally staying at a high-level policy perspective in their other classes to grapple with the challenges of manifesting designs that can have practical and real-world impact in helping children break out of the cycle of poverty. Previous d.school experience is valued but not required.

Supervised research internship. Individual students perform policy research for outside client, applying analytical skills from core curriculum. Requires permission of program director.