PUPn4513 Public Policy Process

Faculty of Social Studies
Autumn 2024
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 12 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
John Frederick Wilton, B.A. (Hons), M. Soc Sc, Ph.D. (lecturer)
prof. PhDr. Tomáš Sirovátka, CSc. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Tomáš Sirovátka, CSc.
Department of Social Policy and Social Work – Faculty of Social Studies
Supplier department: Department of Social Policy and Social Work – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Thu 24. 10. 16:00–19:40 U34, Thu 31. 10. 16:00–19:40 U34, Thu 7. 11. 16:00–19:40 U34, Thu 14. 11. 16:00–19:40 U34, Thu 21. 11. 16:00–19:40 U34
Prerequisites
Only for students of the English study program Public Policy and Human Resources. For the bachelor students of the Czech program the course VPL "Public Policy in EU" is prepared.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 15 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 8/15, only registered: 0/15, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/15
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
In first part of the course after a brief introduction to the basis of, and principles underpinning, E.U. public policy the course will take students on a journey that conceptualises the EU public policy process into four sections – agenda setting, policy formulation, policy decision-making and policy implementation. In examining these four parts of the policy process different models of analysis will be employed at different levels within the EU and at different stages of the policy process. In the second part of the course students are introduced with the importance of organizational processes at different levels public policy. Students will thoroughly study the political process at the street level and gain insight into single organizational and inter-organizational processes within the nation state. Students will be able to identify different types of networking in the age of "political governance". Finally, the question of political accountability will be opened in the context of organizational and implementation discretion. The final lecture of the course will firstly examine an EU public policy area, utilising it as a case study within the conceptual frameworks identified in the first and second parts of the course, and then the second part of the final lecture will raise and examine the question of the ‘europeanisation’ of the public policy process.
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to: -identify public policy issues and problems in the EU - to recognize the integration and disintegration tendencies in the public policy cycle in the EU - write an essay on the barriers to the integration of national policies in the EU - Consider ethical dilemmas and issues of responsibility while shaping public policy in the EU
Syllabus
  • Lecture 1. The basis of, and principles underpinning, E.U. public policy: harmonisation, mutual recognition and convergence? Lecture 2. Agenda-setting: role and purpose, fragmentation and the absence of effective policy co-ordination Lecture 3. Policy formulation: the policy communities and policy networks model, policy-making uncertainty, expertise and epistemic communities, multiple policy-making ‘venues’ Lecture 4. Policy decision-making: institutional analysis, Concepts of rationality and incrementalism. Lecture 5. Policy implementation: implementation as a complex and multifaceted process, characterising implementation in the E.U. Lecture 6 Implementation and importance of organizational processes, Public organization as bureaucracy, policy process at the street level, Workshop 1 (see actual sylabus for details) Lecture 7. a) A case study of the E.U. policy process: Welfare; b) The ‘Europeanisation’ of public policy Workshop 2 Presentations Lecture 8. Policy process in the age of governance. Networks and communities in the modern national state. Inter-organisational behaviour and implementation analysis Lecture 9, personal consultation:The problem of accountability. Accountability and evaluation. Transformations in the overall relationship between state and society.
Literature
    required literature
  • Beland, D. (2009) ‘Ideas, institutions, and policy change’, Journal of European Public Policy, Vol.16, no.5, pp.701-718
  • HILL, Michael J. The public policy process. Seventh edition. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis group, 2017, xiii, 414. ISBN 9781138909496. info
    recommended literature
  • Wallace, H. Wallace, W. and Pollack, M. A. Policy Making in the European Union (5th edition), Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2005.
  • Governance, globalization and public policy. Edited by Patricia Kennett. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 2008, xi, 265. ISBN 9781845424367. info
  • CASTLES, Francis Geoffrey. Comparative public policy : patterns of post-war transformation. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 1998, xi, 352. ISBN 1858988233. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, class discussion, individual project (essay), homework and reading.
Assessment methods
a)Attendance: 80% attendance at lectures (at least 5) and 100% attendance at the 2 workshops is a requirement to pass this course; b)Essay (maximum 2000 words/6 sides of A4 paper)
Language of instruction
English
Follow-Up Courses
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
The course is taught annually.
Teacher's information
Important questions of the study course: Despite definitive debates about whether the European Union (EU) can be equated with the characteristics of a fully fledged state, it is certainly beyond dispute that the EU has acquired for itself at least the policy making attributes of a modern state across an increasingly wide range of policy sectors. As a result it has also gained a considerable degree of power in order to set policy agendas, and formulate, implement and enforce policy decisions.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2019, Autumn 2020, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2022, Autumn 2023.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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