91 - 100 of 117 results for: PUBLPOL

This class provides economic and institutional background necessary to conduct policy analysis. We will examine the economic justification for government intervention and illustrate these concepts with applications drawn from different policy contexts. The goal of the course is to provide you with the conceptual foundations and the practical skills and experience you will need to be thoughtful consumers or producers of policy analysis. Prerequisites: ECON 102B or PUBLPOL 303D.

For undergraduates. The structure of the American legal system including the courts; American legal culture; the legal profession and its social role; the scope and reach of the legal system; the background and impact of legal regulation; criminal justice; civil rights and civil liberties; and the relationship between the American legal system and American society in general.

(Same as LAW 7502.) This course will provide a broad overview of the scholarly field known as "law and economics." The focus will be on how legal rules and institutions can correct market failures. We will discuss the economic function of contracts and, when contracts fail or are not feasible, the role of legal remedies to resolve disputes. We will also discuss at some length the choice between encouraging private parties to initiate legal actions to correct externalities and governmental actors, such as regulatory authorities. Extensive attention will be given to the economics of litigation, and to how private incentives to bring lawsuits differs from the social value of litigation. The economic motive to commit crimes, and the optimal governmental response to crime, will be studied in depth. Specific topics within the preceding broad themes include: the Coase Theorem; the tradeoff between the certainty and severity of punishment; the choice between ex ante and ex post sanctions; negligence versus strict liability; property rules; remedies for breach of contract; and the American rule versus the English rule for allocating litigation costs. Because this course is taught jointly with Law 7502 in the Law School, it will not be mathematically oriented; there are no prerequisites to take the course.

(Same as LAW 243.) Linear and nonlinear regression, covariance structures, panel data, qualitative variable models, nonparametric and semiparametric methods, time series, Bayesian model averaging and variable selection. It explores Bayesian methodology including Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods, hierarchical models, model checking, mixture models, empirical Bayes approaches, approximations, and computational issues and gives some attention to foundations. Prerequisite: graduate-level econometrics or equivalent.

This course aims to present the theory and practice of empirical research in economics with particular emphasis on topics relating to public policy questions. We will start with basic regression analysis and introduce the statistical software STATA. The course will put a substantial amount of effort on work with STATA in analyzing actual data sets, reproducing and criticizing results in scientific research and learning the actual practice of econometrics. We will focus on the identification of causal effects and the various econometric techniques available to learn about causality. While this is primarily a methodology module, most examples and applications will be drawn from the area of public policy. The final will be a 3-5 hour take-home exam. Prerequisite: Econ 102A.

Collective action problems arise when actions that are individually rational give rise to results that are collectively irrational. Scholars have used such a framework to shed light on various political phenomena such as revolutions, civil disobedience, voting, climate change, and the funding of social services. We examine their findings and probe the theoretical foundations of their approach. What does this way of thinking about politics bring into focus, and what does it leave out? What role do institutions play in resolving collective action problems? And what if the required institutions are absent? Can we, as individuals, be required to cooperate even if we expect that others may not play their part? Readings drawn from philosophy, political science, economics, and sociology.

Theories, insights, and concerns of social psychology relevant to how people perceive issues, events, and each other, and links between beliefs and individual and collective behavior will be discussed with reference to a range of public policy issues including education, public health, income and wealth inequalities, and climate change, Specific topics include: situationist and subjectivist traditions of applied and theoretical social psychology; social comparison, dissonance, and attribution theories; stereotyping and stereotype threat, and sources of intergroup conflict and misunderstanding; challenges to universality assumptions regarding human motivation, emotion, and perception of self and others; also the general problem of producing individual and collective changes in norms and behavior.

This course offers hands-on learning of effective writing and presentation techniques for audiences that include policy makers, decision stakeholders, interest groups, the media, and the public. Class time will be spent learning lessons in rhetoric, analyzing multiple written genres (memo, op-ed, report, media communications), participating in peer review, and practicing presentation strategies (elevator pitch, press conference, media interview, board meeting, formal presentation). Course texts include sample memos, op-eds, and white papers, as well as rhetoric handouts and videos. Students will draft, revise, and submit writing for policy audiences in the compilation of a final portfolio. Students will also produce oral and multimedia arguments, individually and in teams. Students will be responsible for timely peer review and short presentations on course materials. Enrollment limited. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

Focus is on the ideal of a just society, and the place of liberty and equality in it, in light of contemporary theories of justice and political controversies. Topics include financing schools and elections, regulating markets, discriminating against people with disabilities, and enforcing sexual morality. Counts as Writing in the Major for PoliSci majors.