Courses & Programs of Study

Program Director: James Leitzel, G-B 222, 702-8555,

j-leitzel@uchicago.edu

Program Administrator: Lee Price, G-B 218B, 702-7134, lee@uchicago.edu

Program Preceptors: G-B 218A, 834-9810

Web: http://www.college.uchicago.edu/Programs/CollegePublicPolicy/

Program of Study

Public Policy Studies offers College students an opportunity to pursue interdisciplinary study of domestic and international policy issues. The primary disciplines among the teaching faculty are economics, political science, and sociology. Course work emphasizes the application of these disciplines to real-world policy issues.

The program of study for the B.A. degree in public policy studies is designed to introduce students to policy analysis and implementation, equip them to use quantitative and economic techniques and methods, train them in policy research, and give them a command of at least one particular policy area.

Students may focus their interests on domestic policy concerns or on international or foreign matters. Those interested in domestic issues can assemble an outstanding selection of courses from offerings in political science, economics, and sociology. For example, students can specialize in urban problems, the influence of the labor market, the family, and social attitudes on the status of various income and racial groups. As a further example, students can specialize in policy implementation, taking courses in the economics of public management, organizational decision-making, and complex organizations, among others.

The program also encourages students to have an internship experience either during the academic year or during the summer. PBPL 29600 offers academic course credit for students completing an approved, policy-oriented internship. Students may inquire about internship opportunities and requirements through the program administrator. Students planning to major in public policy should meet with the program administrator by Autumn Quarter of their third year.

Program Requirements

The suggested sequence described below is typical, but many other variations are possible. There is flexibility within the program regarding when required courses can be taken.

First Year. During their first or second year, students must take one full year of calculus.

Second Year. The following three-quarter sequence is required of all students in the program. The sequence is typically taken in the second year, but the courses may be taken in any order and taking them in the same year is not required.

PBPL 22100. Politics and Policy

PBPL 22200. Public Policy Analysis

PBPL 22300. Problems of Policy Implementation

Students are also required to take ECON 20000 (The Elements of Economic Analysis I), which is a prerequisite for PBPL 22200. Students are encouraged to take at least one additional economics course; appropriate courses include ECON 20100, 20200, 27000, and 27100.

NOTE: If they plan to study abroad in Winter or Spring Quarter of their third year, students are strongly urged to complete the required two-quarter practicum (PBPL 26200-26300 [Field Research Project]) in their second year.

Third Year. Students typically complete the courses below in their third year:

At least one course in statistics. Students are strongly encouraged to take STAT 22000, especially if they anticipate taking several economics courses or the more analytical political science courses. STAT 20000 is an acceptable substitute for STAT 22000. A second statistics course is recommended. Students should consult with the undergraduate program chair for help in selecting appropriate courses from the many statistics courses offered by the University.

Courses in an area of specialization. Students should identify their area of specialization and submit a proposal for their program of study by the end of Winter Quarter in their third year. Students are required to complete three substantive policy courses that make up a specialization in a public policy field. Students may meet the specialization requirement in one of two ways: (1) by taking three courses that logically connect (e.g., courses in urban politics, urban economics, and urban society would count as an urban specialization; or courses in international relations, international finance, and history of the common market might be an international specialty); or (2) by taking three courses beyond the introductory course in one discipline other than public policy (e.g., economics, political science, sociology, statistics). Students should take two of these courses in their third year.

Research practicum. In Winter and Spring Quarters, students must participate in a two-quarter practicum (PBPL 26200-26300 [Field Research Project]). The field research practicum is a two-quarter course designed to teach research methods in a hands-on way. Students in the practicum work collectively on a real-world policy problem, with a focus on Chicago. Recent projects have included developing and testing measures of the impact of cultural organizations on local communities for the city of Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs, examining the impact of welfare reform on former welfare recipients entering the labor market under Welfare-to-Work programs and assessing economic development in the South Shore neighborhood. Each year, the class project results in a final report prepared for the client, and often a public presentation of the findings is made as well. The research practicum is generally taken by students in their second or third year. Students who plan to study abroad during Winter or Spring Quarter of their third year are strongly encouraged to complete the practicum in their second year.

Fourth Year. Students must write a B.A. paper in their fourth year. Ordinarily, the B.A. paper should not be an expansion of the third-year research study. Students wishing to graduate with honors should choose a faculty adviser for the project in Spring Quarter of their third year or early in their fourth year. The instructor of PBPL 29800, the Public Policy Preceptor, serves as adviser for all other B.A. papers.

Further assistance is available in a seminar course (PBPL 29800) offered in Autumn Quarter and required of all public policy students. The seminar informs students about sources and methods of research. During the second half of the course, students offer preliminary statements about the mode of inquiry, sources, and treatment of evidence for their B.A. papers. Students work throughout Winter and Spring Quarters with the Public Policy Senior Preceptors revising the B.A. paper. Students may take as many as two quarters of PBPL 29900 (B.A. Paper Preparation: Public Policy) for general elective credit.

This program may accept a B.A. paper or project used to satisfy the same requirement in another major if certain conditions are met and with the consent of the other program chair. Approval from both program chairs is required. Students should consult with the chairs by the earliest B.A. proposal deadline (or by the end of their third year, when neither program publishes a deadline). A consent form, to be signed by both chairs, is available from the College adviser. It must be completed and returned to the College adviser by the end of Autumn Quarter of the student's year of graduation.

Courses. Many policy-related courses in political science, economics, sociology, education, and history count towards the major when used as "specialization" courses.

Summary of Requirements

General MATH 13100-13200 or equivalent*

Education

Major 1 MATH 13300 or equivalent*

3 PBPL 22100-22200-22300

1 ECON 20000

1 course in statistics*

3 courses in an area of specialization

2 PBPL 26200-26300 (research practicum)

1 PBPL 29800 (Senior Seminar)

B.A. paper

* Credit may be granted by examination.

It is recommended that students take an additional course in economics (ECON 20100 or 20200) and an additional course in statistics.

Grading. All courses counting toward the public policy major must be taken for quality grades unless students have prior approval for P/F grading from the undergraduate program chair.

Honors. All seniors are candidates for honors. Students are recommended for honors if their B.A. papers are of substantial quality and their GPA in the major is 3.25 or higher. Students wishing to graduate with honors must submit the final drafts of their B.A. papers to the public policy preceptor and one faculty reader (or to two faculty readers) by the beginning of sixth week of the quarter in which they wish to graduate.

Faculty

C. Bidwell, D. Coursey, B. Farrell, E. Laumann, J. Leitzel, S. Levitt, R. Lodato,
R. H. Margolis, J. Padgett, H. Richman, D. Snidal, R. Taub, G. Tolley, R. Townsend

Courses: Public Policy Studies (pbpl)

21800. Economics and Environmental Policy. (=ENST 21800, LLSO 26201) PQ: ECON 19800 or higher. This course combines basic microeconomic theory and tools with contemporary environmental and resources issues and controversies to examine and analyze public policy decisions. Theoretical points include externalities, public goods, common-property resources, valuing resources, benefit/cost analysis, and risk assessment. Topics include pollution, global climate change, energy use and conservation, recycling and waste management, endangered species and biodiversity, nonrenewable resources, congestion, economic growth and the environment, and equity impacts of public policies. S. Shaikh. Spring.

22000. Environmental Policy. This course takes a detailed look at the differences in environmental policy making based on the distinctions noted above. We examine how policy making takes place on both public lands and pollution control issues and in each branch of the federal government. We also take a detailed look at policy making on pesticides and clean air, and the differential impact of environmental policymaking upon racial minorities. The role of environmental groups in advocating for environmental policies is also examined. R. Lodato. Winter.

22100. Politics and Policy. PBPL 22100-22200-22300 may be taken in sequence or individually. Public policy choices interact with politics in obvious ways (e.g., elections) but also in subtler ways, turning especially on how organizations work and what governs persuasion and belief. This course surveys some key aspects of these interactions. H. Margolis. Autumn.

22200. Public Policy Analysis. (=ECON 17800) PQ: ECON 20000. PBPL 22100-22200-22300 may be taken in sequence or individually. This course reviews and augments the basic tools of microeconomics developed in ECON 20000, as well as applies these tools to policy problems. We examine situations in which private markets are likely to produce unsatisfactory results, suggesting a potential rationale for government intervention. The goal is to allow students to comprehend, develop, and respond to economics arguments when formulating or evaluating public policy. J. Leitzel. Winter.

22300. Problems of Public Policy Implementation. (=SOCI 30302) PQ: One prior 20000-level social sciences course. PBPL 22100-22200-22300 may be taken in sequence or individually. Once a governmental policy or program is established, there is the challenge of getting it carried out in ways intended by the policy makers. We explore how obstacles emerge because of problems of hierarchy, competing goals, and cultures of different groups. We then discuss how these obstacles may be overcome by groups, as well as by creators and by those responsible for implementing programs. We also look at varying responses of target populations. R. Taub. Spring.

22600. The Environment in U.S. Politics. (=ENST 24100, NCDV 24100) This course introduces the actors and processes that shape environmental policies in the United States. We examine the conflicts in values that underlie contemporary environmental debates. Case studies are used to examine the effectiveness of governmental institutions and procedures addressing environmental problems. We also use these cases to examine our own values and how we think about people living in different places and in the future. Autumn, Winter.

23000. Organizational Analysis. (=SOCI 20101/30101) This course is a systematic introduction to theoretical and empirical work on organizations broadly conceived (e.g., public and private economic organizations, governmental organizations, prisons, professional and voluntary associations, health-care organizations). Topics include intraorganizational questions about organizational goals and effectiveness, communication, authority, and decision making. Using recent developments in market, political economy, and neoinstitutional theories, we explore organizational change and interorganizational relationships for their implications in understanding social change in modern societies. E. Laumann. Autumn.

23100. Environmental Law. (=ENST 23100, LLSO 23100) PQ: Third- or fourth-year standing, or consent of instructor. This lecture/discussion course examines the development of laws and legal institutions that address environmental problems and advance environmental policies. Topics include the common law background to traditional environmental regulation, the explosive growth and impact of federal environmental laws in the second half of the twentieth century, regulations and the urban environment, and the evolution of local and national legal structures in response to environmental challenges. G. Davis. Autumn.

23200. The Economics of Crime. (=ECON 28700) PQ: ECON 20100 required; ECON 21000 or STAT 22000 strongly recommended. This course uses theoretical and empirical economic tools to analyze a wide range of issues related to criminal behavior. Topics include the police, prisons, gang behavior, guns, drugs, capital punishment, labor markets and the macroeconomy, and income inequality. Special emphasis is devoted to analyzing the optimal role for public policy. S. Levitt. Not offered 2005-06; will be offered 2006-07.

23600. Political Sociology. (=ENST 23500, SOCI 20106/30106) PQ: Completion of the general education requirement in social sciences. This course provides analytical perspectives on citizen preference theory, public choice, group theory, bureaucrats and state-centered theory, coalition theory, elite theories, and political culture. These competing analytical perspectives are assessed in considering middle-range theories and empirical studies on central themes of political sociology. Local, national, and cross-national analyses are explored. T. Clark. Spring.

24101. Public Policy and Wage Inequality. (=ECON 24101) PQ: ECON 20100. Over roughly the last two decades, the United States has seen a dramatic increase in wage inequality. This course explores potential explanations for this phenomenon and specifically examines the role that public policy may have played. We deal extensively with analyses of minimum wage laws, trade agreements, affirmative action enforcement, and government education and training programs. In addition to focusing on changes in policy over time within the United States, we explore comparisons between U.S. policy and corresponding policies in other developed countries. D. Neal. Not offered 2005-06; will be offered 2006-07.

24300. Global Environmental Politics. (=ENST 24900, NCDV 21100) This course examines the ways in which the international society responds to (or ignores) global environmental problems. It discusses key theoretical frameworks, reviews the history of international environmental cooperation, and identifies the roles, interests, and behavior of main actors such as states, international organizations, NGOs, and the business community. We study contemporary debates on global warming, international trade, environmental security, gender, and indigenous peoples. M. Arsel. Spring.

24400. Is Development Sustainable? (=BPRO 23400, ENST 24400, HIPS 23400, NCDV 27300) PQ: Third- or fourth-year standing. This is a discussion course for students without a background in environmental issues. Its aim is to grapple with the "big problem" of sustainable development. We analyze problematical issues underlying population growth, resource use, environmental transformation, and the plight of developing nations through a consideration of economic, political, scientific, and cultural institutions and processes. T. Steck, M. Arsel. Spring.

24500. Economics of Urban Policies. (=ECON 26600/36500, GEOG 26600/36600, LLSO 26202) PQ: ECON 20100. This course covers tools needed to analyze urban economics and address urban policy problems. Topics include a basic model of residential location and rents; income, amenities, and neighborhoods; homelessness and urban poverty; decisions on housing purchase versus rental such as housing taxation, housing finance, and landlord monitoring; models of commuting mode choice and congestion and transportation pricing and policy; urban growth; and Third World cities. G. Tolley, D. Barker. Spring.

24701. U.S. Environmental Policy. (=ENST 24901, LLSO 24901) Making environmental policy is a diverse and complex process. Environmental advocacy engages different governmental agencies, congressional committees, and courts, depending on the issue. This course examines how such differentiation has affected policy making over the last several decades. R. Lodato. Autumn, Winter.

24800. Urban Policy Analysis. (=SOCI 20120/30120) This course presents an overview of urban policy analysis, focusing on leadership patterns of public officials and their implications for urban public policy (especially economic development). It reviews major interpretations of how urban politics and leadership work in cities around the world today. Knowledge, culture, and amenities are added to the traditional drivers. Which specific cities and leaders have followed different sets of strategies and with what consequences? Comparative analyses of cities around the world will be used, as well as case studies of individual cities (especially Chicago). T. Clark. Autumn.

25300. Social Welfare in the United States. (=SOSC 25300, SSAD 45001) This course examines the evolution of social welfare provisions in American society. Special emphasis is placed on who is helped and who is not, in what forms, under what auspices, and with what goals. The changing nature of helping is analyzed with particular attention to the changing role of the state. Readings and discussion focus on provisions for the poor, for children and families, and for the mentally ill. Comparisons are made with other industrialized countries. H. Richman. Spring.

25800. Public Choice. (=ECON 16900) PQ: ECON 20100, or PBPL 22200, or consent of instructor. This course is an introduction to major ideas in the literature that seeks to apply the economic notion of rational choice to the context of politics and social choice. Authors include Samuelson, Arrow, Buchanan, Olson, and Downs. H. Margolis. Winter. Not offered 2005-1006; will be offered 2006-2007.

25901. Education Policy and Practice. From the broad perspective, we examine the ways in which policies are formulated, the individuals who help set policies and who have to implement them, the consequences of implementation, and the kinds of evidence employed to determine the consequences. For those policies that we examine in some detail, we also study the historical context that led to them, the issues surrounding their implementation, and data to shed light on the value of the policy. Z. Usiskin. Winter.

26200-26300. Field Research Project in Public Policy I, II. PQ: Open to nonmajors with consent of instructor. Must be taken in sequence for two separate grades, one for each quarter. This is a group project that exposes students to real-world policymaking questions. Students work together on designing the research project, gathering information, and analyzing the data. Practicums have dealt with the employment and housing conditions facing Latinos in metropolitan Chicago, juvenile recidivism, and patterns of racial integration and segregation in the suburbs of Chicago. B. Farrell. Winter, Spring.

27000. Introduction to International Economics. (=ECON 27000) PQ: ECON 20300 or consent of instructor. This course studies the pure theory of international trade: the real side of international economics. Topics include the basis for and gains from trade; the theory of comparative advantage; and effects of international trade on the distribution of income, tariffs, and other barriers to trade. Not offered 2005-06; will be offered 2006-07.

27100. Economies in Transition: China, Russia, and Beyond. (=ECON 27900) PQ: ECON 20000 or consent of instructor. The ongoing postsocialist transitions are examined (particularly those of Russia and China). The basic tool of analysis is the emerging "economics of transition." Various programs of macroeconomic stabilization, price liberalization, and privatization are analyzed; and their effects on inflation, unemployment, and living standards are assessed. We cover issues highlighted in the "post-Washington consensus" (e.g., corporate governance, competition policy, the role of the state). This course is offered in alternate years. J. Leitzel. Winter.

27200. Policy Reform. (=ECON 27600) PQ: ECON 20000 or PBPL 22200. Policy makers are rarely in a position to design policy on a tabula rasa; rather, there is a preexisting policy in place, and the job of policy makers is to consider amendments to this status quo. Policy reforms exhibit similarities, and these general features can be identified and analyzed. Questions addressed include: What policies are selected for reform? Why are necessary reforms often delayed? What is the basis for frequent claims about the futility of proposed policy reforms? What role does the evasion of existing policies have on policy reform? How, and in what manner, does crisis engender reform? This course is offered in alternate years. J. Leitzel. Winter.

27300. Regulation of Vice. (=ECON 27300) PQ: ECON 20000. This course concerns government policy with respect to the traditional vices of drinking, smoking, gambling, illicit sex, and the recreational use of drugs. Among the policies considered are prohibition, taxation, treatment, decriminalization, and legalization. The intellectual framework employed to evaluate various policies is primarily economic, though other disciplines are also drawn upon. J. Leitzel. Spring.

27900. Global-Local Politics. (=SOCI 20116/30116) Globalizing and local forces are generating a new politics in the United States and around the world. This course explores this new politics by mapping its emerging elements: the rise of social issues, ethno-religious and regional attachments, environmentalism, gender and life-style identity issues, new social movements, transformed political parties and organized groups, and new efforts to mobilize individual citizens. T. Clark. Winter.

28300. Health Economics and Public Policy. (=ECON 27700, GSBC 85700, PPHA 38300, SSAD 47700) PQ: ECON 20300 and 21000, and consent of instructor. This course analyzes the economics of health care in the United States with particular attention to the role of government. D. Meltzer. Not offered 2005-06; will be offered 2006-07.

29600. Internship: Public Policy. PQ: Consent of program chair. Open only to public policy students. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Must be taken for a P/F grade. Students must make arrangements with the program chair before beginning the internship. After working for a government agency or not-for-profit organization, students write a paper about their experience. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

29700. Reading and Research: Public Policy. PQ: Open only to public policy students. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

29800. Senior Seminar. PQ: Open only to public policy students with fourth-year standing. Must be taken for a quality grade. Autumn.

29900. B.A. Paper Preparation: Public Policy. PQ: Open only to public policy students with fourth-year standing. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Autumn, Winter, Spring.