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Public Policy

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Course Type Course Code No. Of Credits
Discipline Core NSUS1P0611 4

Course Coordinator and Team:                  SES Faculty

Email of course coordinator:                       pcbabed@aud.ac.in 

Pre-requisites:                                               No

Course Description:

The objective of this course is to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of public policy processes, analysis, and implementation in various contexts. Through theoretical frameworks, case studies, and practical applications, students will gain insights into the complexities of policymaking, the role of various stakeholders, and the impact of policies on society. This course aims to equip students with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to engage critically and effectively in the analysis, formulation, and evaluation of public policies, contributing to informed decision-making and positive social change.

Course Objectives:

  • To provide students with a comprehensive understanding of public policy processes, analysis, and implementation in various contexts
  • To gain insights into the complexities of policymaking, the role of various stakeholders, and the impact of policies on society
  • To equip students with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to engage critically and effectively in the analysis, formulation, and evaluation of public policies, contributing to informed decision-making and positive social change.

Course Outcomes:

  • Demonstrate Understanding of Public Policy Concepts, theories, and models related to public policy, including policy analysis, formulation, implementation, and evaluation.
  • Critically analyse public policy issues using appropriate methodologies, considering political, economic, social, and environmental factors.
  • Understand the challenges and processes involved in policy implementation, including the role of bureaucracies, interest groups, and political actors.
  • Engage in informed debates and discussions on contemporary public policy issues, considering different perspectives and evidence-based arguments.

Description of Modules

Module I: Understanding Public Policy

This module will introduce the fundamental concepts and definitions of public policy. It explores the nature, scope, and significance of public policy in governance and society. Topics include the roles and responsibilities of policymakers, the policy-making process, and the factors influencing policy decisions. This module aims to provide a foundational understanding of how public policies are formulated, implemented, and evaluated within various political and social contexts.

  • Meaning, Nature and Characteristics
  • Exploring Politics-Administration Relationship

Module II: Public Policy in Theory

This module delves into the theoretical frameworks and models used to analyze public policy. It covers some of the dominant theories of policy-making. Students will explore the strengths and limitations of these theories and how they apply to real-world policy issues. The module emphasizes the importance of theoretical perspectives in understanding the complexities and dynamics of policy processes.

  • Development Policy and Administration
  • Public Choice Theory
  • Public Management Theory

Module III: Public Policy in Practice

In this module, students examine the practical aspects of public policy implementation and administration. It covers the public policy process, challenges and strategies involved in translating policy decisions into effective actions. The module will also delve into the role of public institutions and civil society in public policy processes and the impact of political and bureaucratic environments. Case studies and real-world examples will be used to illustrate the practical implications of policy decisions and the factors that contribute to successful policy outcomes.

  • Public Policy Process: planning and analysis, resource mobilization, policy formulation, policy implementation, policy monitoring and evaluation.
  • Role of Actors in the policy processes: government, bureaucracy, parliament, courts, political parties, Civil Society.

Module IV: Public Policy Analysis

This module focuses on the methodologies and tools used in the analysis and evaluation of public policies. It introduces quantitative and qualitative techniques for assessing policy effectiveness, efficiency, and equity. Students will learn about cost-benefit analysis, impact assessment, and other evaluative methods. The module aims to equip students with the analytical skills needed to critically assess policy options and outcomes, providing a rigorous approach to evidence-based policy-making. In this module students will learn to study and analyse different public policies implemented in the Indian context.

  • Economic Policies
  • Social Welfare Policies
  • Health Care Policies
  • Education Policies
  • Environmental Policies

Assessment Structure:

Assessment

Weightage

Assignment 1: Engagement with the educational resources. This involves in-class quizzes and short response notes

30%

Assignment 2: Assignments and/or presentations

30%

Assignment 3: End-term assessment

40%

References

  • Dye, T. R. Understanding Public Policy, New Jersey, Prentice Hall. 1975.
  • Frohock, F. M. Public Policy: Scope and Logic, New Jersey, Prentice-Hall, 1979.
  • Peters, B. G. 'Public Policy and Public Bureaucracy1, in Douglas E. Ashford ed., History and Context in Comparative Public Policy, Pittsburgh. University of Pittsburgh Press, 1992.
  • Frederickson, H. G. et al. The Public Administration Theory Primer. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 2015.
  • Anyebe, A.A. An Overview of the Approaches to the Study of Public Policy International Journal of Political Science, Volume 4, Issue 1, January 2018, PP 08-17.
  • Mueller, D. S. Public Choice III. UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003
  • James M. Buchanan, James M. & Tollison, Robert D. The Theory of Public Choice – II. Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2009.
  • Dunleavy, P. Democracy, Bureaucracy and Public Choice : Economic Approaches in Political Science London, Routledge, 2013.
  • Birkland, Thomas A., An Introduction to the Policy Process, London, M. E. Sharpe, 2001.
  • Pandya, H. J. and Venkatranam, A. 'Policy Approach to Public Administration'. Indian Journal of Administrative Science, Jan-Jun., 1990.
  • Birkland, T. A. An Introduction to the Policy Process, London, M. E. Sharpe, 2001.
  • Dror, Y. Public Policy Making Reexamined, Oxford, Transaction Publication, 1989.
  • Ham, C. and Hill, M. The Policy Process in the Modern Capitalist State, Sussex, Harvester, 1984.
  • House, P. W. The Art of Public Policy Analysis Delhi, Sage, 1982.
  • Gilson L. Lipsky’s Street Level Bureaucracy. in Page E., Lodge M and Balla S (eds) Oxford Handbook of the Classics of Public Policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.
  • Sahoo, S. Civil Society and Democratization in India: Institutions, Ideologies and Interests. Abingdon: Routledge, 2013.
  • Tandon, R., & Mohanty, R. (Eds.). (2003). Does civil society matter?: governance in contemporary India. Sage.
  • Bidyut Chakrabarty, Participatory governance In India - The field experience, ICSSR Journal of Abstracts and Reviews 36 (1), 2010.
  • Harriss John, ‘‘Participation’ and Contestation in the Governance of Indian Cities’, Simons Papers in Security and Development 3, pp. 1-2. 2010.
  • Self, Peter, 'Market Ideology and Public Policy', in Peter Self, Government by the Market? The Political of Public Choice, Boulder. Westview, 1993.
  • Sinha, A. Understanding the Rise and Transformation of Business Collective Action in India Business and Politics Volume 7, Issue 2, 2005.
  • Additional Readings
  • Mathur, K. Public Policy and Politics in India: How Institutions Matter Oxford University Press, 2013.
  • Jayal, N.G. Democracy and the State: Welfare, Secularism and Development in Contemporary India New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 1999.
  • Chakrabarti, R. & K. SANYAL Public Policy in India New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2016.
  • Sinha, A. An Institutional Perspective on the Post-Liberalization State in India, In Akhil Gupta and K. Sivaramakrishnan, ed., The State in India after Liberalization: Inter-disciplinary Perspectives, New York: Routledge, 2011, 49-68.
  • Chatterjee, Partha, (2000) ‘Development Planning and the Indian State’ in Hasan, Zoya (ed) Politics and the State in India, pp. 115-141, Sage Publications.
  • Nanda, B.R., (1995), JawaharLal Nehru: Rebel & Statesman, Chapter 3 (Gandhi and  JawaharLal), PP. 22-55, Oxford University Press.
  • Kaviraj, Sudipta,(1996), 'Dilemmas of Democratic Development in India' in Adrian Leftwich edited Democracy and Development: Theory and Practice, Cambridge, Polity Press
  • Jayal, N (2007 Introduction, in Niraja Gopal Jayal, Amit Prakash, and Pradeep K. Sharma (eds.) Local Governance in India: Decentralization and Beyond, Oxford university Press, New Delhi
  • Kabeer, Naila (2005). Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Gender and Development, Vol.13, No.1
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