Department
of Public Administration
PPA 897:
Fundamentals of Policy Analysis
Fall 2008
Professor:
Arthur Brooks
Meets:
Mondays, 7:30-11:15, Whitman 402
Course
Description
The purpose
of this course is to provide you with an understanding of some of the models
and methods used in policy analysis.
Policy analysis is used in a variety of ways inside and outside the
public and nonprofit sectors and the tools of policy analysis now play an
important part in decision making at all levels of governments and NPOs. After taking this course, students will be:
Materials:
Basis
for grading:
The 8 quizzes
will be taken about once per week (at the beginning of class); they will last
10 minutes, and will cover the previous week’s material. I will drop your
bottom quiz grade. I will give quizzes before class if you can’t make it for
any good reason, but there won’t be any make-ups after-the-fact. If you do well
on the quizzes, it probably means you are keeping up well with the material
covered. Problem sets will be assigned for each unit. With solutions
sets they will be posted to the class website. While I don’t insist that you
turn them in, I highly recommend that you do them; past history indicates that
it is very difficult to perform well on the exams if you don't. Also, both
microeconomics and policy analysis are learned through practice, and the
problem sets will be your chance to do so before the exams.
There are
2 case studies. You need to turn in a memo for only one of them—you
choose which one. If you want, turn in more than one and I’ll only count your
highest score.
All
material on the exams will be covered in the lectures, although not all
of it necessarily appears in the text. In other words, while I won’t take
attendance, it is very important to come to class and take careful notes. This
class has shown a very high correlation between the number of classes attended
and the performance on quizzes and exams.
How to
contact me:
My Office:
Eggers Hall 314 (inside the Campbell Institute)
Phone: 315-443-3719
E-mail: acbrooks@maxwell.syr.edu
Class
homepage: http://faculty.maxwell.syr.edu/acbrooks/classes.htm
Outline
The topics
and associated readings are described below. This schedule may change somewhat
midstream, as time dictates.
Note that
the reading is very unevenly spaced; in particular, there are several weeks
with heavy reading requirements. It is important to do this reading, as exam
questions may come from the articles.
|
Date |
Topic |
|
Notes |
|
25-Aug |
Introduction
to models and economic policy analysis; Policy
analysis and the market model |
Perloff 1-3 |
|
|
1-Sep |
Labor
Day—NO CLASS |
|
|
|
8-Sep |
Cont. |
|
Quiz
#1 |
|
15-Sep |
NO
CLASS |
|
|
|
22-Sep |
Cont. |
|
Quiz
#2 |
|
29-Sep |
Analyzing
tax policy with the market model |
|
Quiz
#3 |
|
6-Oct |
Production |
Perloff 6-9 |
Quiz
#4 Case
#1 due |
|
13-Oct |
Midterm
exam |
|
|
|
20-Oct |
Policy
analysis and market failures |
Perloff 18 Articles:
Coase, Akerloff, Wolf |
Quiz
#5 Case
#2 due |
|
27-Oct |
Cont.
|
|
Quiz
#6 |
|
3-Nov |
Efficiency,
equity, and liberty |
Articles:
Gilder, Kristol, and Soros |
Quiz
#7 |
|
10-Nov |
Money
and economic policymaking |
Articles:
Frey and Stutzer, Brooks |
Quiz
#8 |
|
17-Nov |
Final
exam (take home) due to Kelley Coleman by 9am |
|
|