Implementation and Program Evaluation in Environmental Policy 

California State University, Northridge

Master of Public Administration 622A

Summer 2000

 

Dr. Matthew Cahn                                                        6/2-4; 6/16-18

(818) 677-6518                                                           Friday: 6:00 - 9:45 pm

email: mcahn@csun.edu                                             Sat/Sun: 8:00 am - 4:45 pm

 

Course Description

 

Public Policy is fundamentally a discipline interested in identifying public problems and implementing successful solutions.  Several courses focus on the identification of common problems and review potential policy solutions (e.g., MPA 650).  This course focuses exclusively on policy solutions and strategies for successful implementation of these solutions, utilizing environmental regulation as a case study.

 

Clearly, public policy represents a contested terrain.  Policy outcomes represent benefits to some and pain to others.  Hence, policy implementation is typically a political, and often passionate, discourse.  Successful policy implementation, therefore, requires rational strategies.

 

This course will include the use of strategy games in order to expose the hidden interests of policy agendas, and to develop the policy strategy skills of the seminar participants.  Game theoretical analysis has traditionally been applied in the filed of international relations.  Increasingly, such analysis has become useful in domestic policy strategies, at all levels of government.

 

Required Reading

 

Mazmanian & Sabatier: Implementation and Public Policy

(University Press, 1983)

 

            Vig & Kraft (eds.)  Environmental Policy: New Directions for the Twenty-first Century

         CQ Press, 1999)

            Frank Fischer:  Evaluating Public Policy

            (Nelson-Hall Publishers, 1995)

 

Course Requirements

 

This course will be conducted as a policy clinic.  That is, we will be operating in a hands-on manner, actually developing policy implementation strategies.  The quality of the clinic depends upon the active participation of each member.  As a consequence of our intensive weekend format, each clinic member is expected to do advance reading.

 

Participants will join workgroups in which they will create implementation strategies for policies of interest.  Workgroups will culminate with the collective research and creation of a collective policy paper.  The strategy research and development will take place during the clinic.

 

The strategy paper will be based on a single policy chosen by the group.  The group will research that policy (focusing on a specific program), and will collectively develop an implementation strategy (e.g., considering all the obstacles, how can this program best be implemented).  Finally, the group will develop an evaluation tool to measure the success of the implemented program.

 

Participation:  33%      Workgroups:  33%      Paper:  33%

 

Outline

 

June 2, 6:00 pm:  Introduction:  The Role of Implementation Theory in  Public Policy

                        - What is the Role of Public Policy?

- Defining Implementation

                         >Mazmanian & Sabatier <

June 3:  Critical Issues in Policy Implementation

                        - Read Mazmanian & Sabatier, chs. 1-2, and Meet at 10:30 am

- Problems in Policy Implementation

- Implementation Analysis

- Environmental Policy Constraints

- Implementation and Environmental Policy

>Vig & Kraft <

 

June 4: Policy ClinicA

 

- Create Working Groups;

- Workgroups Research Policy Area

  & Begin Policy Strategy Session;

>finish Mazmanian & Sabatier; <

 

June 16:  Program Evaluation (6:00 pm)

 

- Evaluating Policy Success

> Patton & Sawicki  <

 

June 17 & 18:  Policy Clinic B (Saturday: 9:00 am, Sunday TBA)

 

-Methodology: Define Goals, Evaluative Measurememts, Collect Data, Analysis

- Working Groups;

- Apply evaluative analysis to Policy Area;

- Create Policy Evaluations Reports;

- Final Presentations;

Back to Syllabi

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Matthew Cahn
Department of Political Science
California State University Northridge
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA  91330-8254
(818) 677-3488
matthew.cahn@csun.edu