CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO
PPA
210: Political Environment of Policy Making
Spring, 2005
Professor
Robert Waste
3036 Tahoe Hall 278-4944 (office) 804-8185 (cell phone)
email:
wasterj@csus.edu
Meeting time and
place: Monday 6-8:50 pm, Alpine 205
Office hours: Monday 3-5 pm and
by appointment
This course focuses mainly (although not exclusively) on the development stage of the policy process – including efforts to pass secure legislation in Congress and/or state legislatures, and efforts to pass or defeat ordinances or policies by city councils and county boards of supervisors. I find legislative battles especially useful for illustrating key analytical points. However, students should remain aware that politics enters other forums and stages, including policy implementation. Additionally, we will consider in depth the ethics of political entrepreneurship, examining the obligations of entrepreneurs and the needed limits on their behavior.
The term “seminar” is accurate. Conventional lectures will be limited and classes will be discussion oriented. While I will guide the conversation, summarize points, and draw lessons, the bulk of class time will be devoted to exchange about course topics, in-class exercises, etc. Student participation is therefore not a luxury; it is essential to a successful course. I expect that students will come to class consistently, be prepared to discuss the week’s readings, and be prepared to accept special in-class assignments such as leading a critique of a particular argument from the literature.
The following books – available in paperback editions – are required.
Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point (Boston: Back Bay Books, 2000).
John W. Kingdon, Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies, paperback edition, (Addison-Wesley Pub. Co., 2nd ed., January 1997).
Robert Waste, The Ecology of City Policymaking (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989). (Available free - on a one semester loan - from the professor).
There will be two short papers, an in-class mid-term examination, and an in-class final examination. Assignment due dates are specified in the syllabus.
Course grades will be determined in accordance with the following weights:
Paper
#1 (life cycle, agenda setting & entrepreneur memo
– due in class on Feb. 25) 15%
Mid-term examination (in class on March 21) 20%
Paper
#2 (ethics paper – due in class on April 26th)
15%
Final examination (in class on May 9)
30%
Class participation
20%
100%
The University's policy on Academic Honesty is available in full at: http://www.library.csus.edu/content2.asp?pageID=175 and should be reviewed by all students. It contains completed definitions of student's rights and responsibilities as well as cheating and plagiarism. It also specifies the faculty rights and responsibilities.
It is the Department's practice that any student caught cheating or plagiarizing will automatically receive a grade of "F" for the assignment in question. Consistent with University Policy, the faculty member will have sole discretion regarding whether to pursue additional sanctions including an "F" for the course and/or referring the student to the Office of the Vice-President for Student Affairs for disciplinary action.
It is the responsibility of students with recognized disabilities - such as visual, communication, hearing and mobility impairment, specific learning disabilities, and other functional limitations and temporary disabilities - which may impair his/her educational progress, to bring those disabilities to the attention of the Professor. Such students are also strongly encouraged to contact the CSUS Office of Services to Students with Disabilities -278-6955, 278-7239 (TDD), Lassen Hall 1008 and www.csus.edu/sswd/ for assistance in achieving your educational objectives.
Late assignments will not be accepted. At my discretion, a student who misses a deadline may be given a make-up assignment. Whether or not a penalty will be assessed depends on the reason (e.g., a family emergency constitutes a good reason; a competing requirement for another course does not). You should inform me prior to class if you must miss class on a specific day. Except under very unusual circumstances, a student who misses three classes will be penalized one entire grade (e.g., a B+ for the course will become a C+), and a student who misses more than three classes will receive a failing grade.
January 31
First thing first: Let’s review the President’s State of the Union Address and the Governor's State of the State Address (See the text of the Address in the Appendix) & apply it to class readings.
Readings:
Kingdon,
Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies, Chapters 1, 5 & 6.
February 7
Readings:
Kingdon,
Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies, Chapter 8
Waste, Ecology, Chapters 1 & 2; Gladwell, Chapters 1-3 - The Three Rules of Epidemics, the Law of the Few (Connectors, Mavens & Salesmen), & The Stickiness Factor
Discussion QuestionsFebruary 14 One-on-One with a Policy Entrepreneur:
Guest Speakers: To Be Announced.
February 21 - No Class- Spring Break
February 28
Readings:“Crisis as Usual” – California’s Semi-Permanent State of Crisis (Budget, Energy, Water, Earthquakes, Fires, Ag Pests & Ag Epidemics, Urban Race/Class Riots), Big Ticket Natural Disasters, & Runners-Up (“Potential Focusing Events”) – What’s Up with This?
March 7
Guest Speaker: To Be Announced.
Readings:
Two
articles on Tom Birkland’s disaster “potential focusing event” thesis (Handout).
Gladwell, Chapters 4 & 5.
Discussion Questions
Why do some
crises become major policy/politics “crises” while others of even larger scope
remain only “potential focusing events”?
How do you raise "regional"
issues in the context of "local" politics?
C. Special Cases:
The Scandal-Reform Cycle & the Clientele-Capture
Thesis
Gladwell's Case Studies
Reading:
Waste, Ecology,
Chapter 5. Gladwell, Chapters 6 & 7
March 14
Review for Next Week’s In-Class Midterm Exam.
Discussion Questions
Why
is the time immediately following a scandal a “dangerous” time to attempt reform
policy?
Is Bernstein correct in arguing that regulatory policy & regulatory
bodies tend to decline?
How do changes in the public mood create opportunities
and dangers for policy entrepreneurs?
March 28
Mid-Term Exam during Class
April 4
A. Is Paul Peterson Wrong? Does economics determine or shape policy outcomes?
Finally, let’s consider the fit between the politics of policymaking and traditional views of the policymaking process, including the rational-comprehensive view, incrementalism and “garbage can” models AND…
B. Age, Locale, Political Culture & the Politics of Policymaking
Reading:
Waste, Ecology, Chapters
3 & 4
Waste, “City Limits, Pluralism, and Urban Political Economy,” Journal of Urban Affairs (Handout).
Kingdon, Agendas, Chapter 4. Gladwell, Chapter 7
Discussion Questions
What is the key point
of the economic determinist argument of Harvard’s Paul Peterson?
What are the
implications of the “policy stepladder” model for understanding – or failing to
understand – the state and local policy process in California?
April 11
Readings:
Kingdon, Agendas, Chapters 6 & 7.
Guest Speaker: To Be Announced.
Discussion Questions
In Kingdon’s
terms, what is the role of the professional policy analyst relative to the “political
stream” and the “primeval soup”?
Put differently, Professor Nancy Shulock
has asked a fascinating question, namely: If –as frequently seems the case - policy
analysts have so little influence on policies actually adopted, why are our reports,
opinions and estimates so frequently sought out by policymakers?
April 18
Reading:
Kingdon,
Agendas, Chapters 9 & 10.
A. Analysts, Politics, Policymaking & Ethics: The Art and Risks of Ethical Argumentation, and Ethical Intervention
April 25
Bring a beverage of your choice. I’ll provide the popcorn. We’re going to settle in, watch Twelve Angry Men - one of the greatest movies on ethics, communication, small group interaction, and decision-making of all time - and discuss the movie.
Discussion Questions
If the jurors
in “Twelve Angry Men” made a “good decision,” why did this happen?
What exactly
is “deliberation,” and how would we know it when we see it?
Why should we
care if policy makers deliberate?
May 2
Can Government "Institutionalize Ethics" - Embed It Directly Into the Political/Policy Process? Let's Look at the California Little Hoover Commission
Invited Guest Speaker James Meyer, Director, Little Hoover Commission
May 9
Paper #2 (ethics paper) due.