1 - 10 of 103 results for: PUBLPOL

Public Policy 1 is an introduction to the wide range of fields and methods used in Public Policy analysis including economics, political science, social psychology, justice, ethics and organizations. The course will have weekly speakers who will provide examples of policy analysis from a variety of perspectives. Attendance mandatory.

Deep disagreement pervades our democracy, from arguments over issues ranging from foreign policy, free speech, and reparations to college admissions policy and the professionalization of college athletics. Loud voices drown out discussion. Open-mindedness, humility, and critical thinking seem in short supply among politicians, citizens, and other residents alike. Yet constructive disagreement is an essential feature of a democratic society. This class explores and models respectful, civil disagreement. Each week features scholars who disagree - sometimes quite strongly - about major policy issues. Students will have the opportunity to probe those disagreements, understand why they persist, and improve their own understanding of the facts and values that underlie them. The course may be taken for one or two units. The basic, one-unit class is open to all Stanford students, with other members of the Stanford community welcome to audit individual classes. The requirements are to do readings in advance of each class, attend, and listen attentively and critically. Because the topics are different, students who took the course in 2023-24 may enroll this year as well. A limited number of undergraduates may take a second unit of credit. Students enrolled in the two unit course will participate in weekly small group discussion seminars about the topics discussed by guest presenters in the course that week. The discussion seminars will be led by peer facilitators, with the goals of developing critical thinking skills and discourse skills, such as active listening and curiosity. The peer facilitators are undergraduate students who have completed training in dialogue facilitation. Each discussion seminar will have a maximum of 10 students. If interest in discussion seminars exceeds the number offered, students will be chosen by lottery.

What causes financial crises? What are the keys to anticipating, preventing, and managing disruptions in the global financial system? This course prepares students to navigate future episodes as policymakers, finance professionals, and citizens by going inside the practical decisions made in an unfolding crisis, from the U.S. government and IMF to the boardroom and trading floor. Students will learn warning signs of distress; market structures that govern crisis dynamics; strategic interactions among the key actors; and lessons learned for creating a more resilient system. Concepts will be applied to real-world cases: emerging markets, U.S. housing and the Global Financial Crisis, the European sovereign crisis, COVID-19, the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, crypto, and tariffs.

Spending by federal, state, and local governments accounts for about one-third of U.S. GDP and governments employ more than one-in-seven workers in the U.S. For most U.S. residents, government is represented by a complicated web of federal, state, and local policies. There is an increasingly contentious debate about the proper role of the government and regarding the impact of specific government policies. This debate is rarely grounded in a common set of facts. In this seminar, we will explore how each level of government interacts with U.S. residents through government services, public programs, taxes, and regulations. We will examine financial results for different levels of government while considering the net effects of government intervention on the health and economic well-being of individuals and families. Particular attention will be paid to certain sectors (e.g. education, health care, etc.) and to certain groups (e.g. those in poverty, the elderly, etc.). Along the way we will accumulate a set of metrics to assess the performance of each level of government while highlighting the formidable challenges of such an exercise. Prerequisite: Econ 1.

Preference to Frosh/Sophomores. This course will provide an introduction to local government, focusing initially on the purpose, functions, and structure of local government through a weekly speaker series featuring experts and officials in local government. The second half of the course will focus on specific policy areas such as environment, social justice, and affordable housing, where speakers involved with the local government initiatives explored in each unit will discuss their experiences with the class. Students will also have the opportunity to simulate a City Council meeting and learn how they can get involved in their local government. This course is the first part in a project-based learning series running through Winter and Spring Quarters. Students who take this class can apply for a position on a team working on a predetermined project for local governments around the Bay Area during Spring Quarter. Students accepted into the project-based learning experience will attend weekly training sessions during the second half of Winter Quarter in addition to normal class sessions to prepare for their projects. You can enroll in the Winter course without participating in the Spring class/project.To earn credit, students must attend at least 8 of the 10 meetings in the speaker series, complete the two assignments, and actively participate in the simulation. Students will be allowed up to two excused absences. (Cardinal Course certified by the Haas Center)

Can economics be part of the solution to our most pressing sustainability challenges? In this course, we investigate the causes and consequences of these challenges and explore how economic thinking, when used creatively and critically, can help build a more sustainable future. Designed for students with little or no prior training in economics, this course introduces fundamental economic concepts through the lens of sustainability. We'll examine how markets work and how they sometimes fail, why incentives matter, and how policies can shape behavior across individuals, businesses, and institutions. Using real-world examples from around the world such as the U.S. Clean Air Act, EU Emissions Trading System, China's War on Pollution as well as global climate agreements, we'll explore how economics can inform effective policies to address issues such as climate change, air pollution, natural resource management, and environmental justice. Through interactive class games, case studies, and group projects, students will learn how to use economics not just to understand the world but to help change it for the better.

You are now the governor of a major state, and it's your responsibility to build a health reform agenda. What are the major problems in your state? What policy levers are available to you to fix them? What evidence do you need to compare different policies? This course evaluates major trends and changes in state health care policies through the course of seven lectures and three speakers and culminates in a final memo where you propose and justify a specific health policy reform. Course staff are available to support you in contacting and pitching your proposed reform to a relevant policymaker.

This course introduces the theories of consumers, producers, and markets, and uses these concepts to understand how people make complex economic decisions in the real world. By the end of the course, students will be familiar with core microeconomic models and be able to use them with real-world applications related to government spending, taxation, and welfare programs. The goal of the course is for students to learn how microeconomists think and approach economic problems. Note: PUBLPOL 50 was numbered PUBLPOL 51 prior to the 2023-2024 Academic Year.

The seminar will provide an introduction and discussion of the impact of public policy on personal finance. Voters regularly rate the economy as one of the most important factors shaping their political views and most of those opinions are focused on their individual bottom lines. In this course we will discuss the rationale for different public policies and how they affect personal financial situations. We will explore personal finance issues such as taxes, loans, charity, insurance, and pensions. Using the context of (hypothetical) personal finance positions, we will discuss the public policy implications of various proposals and how they affect different groups of people, for example: the implications of differential tax rates for different types of income, the promotion of home ownership in the U.S., and policies to care for our aging population. While economic policy will be the focus of much of the course, we will also examine some of the implications of social policies on personal finance as well. There will be weekly readings and several short policy-related writing assignments.