Public Policy Courses
Pub 500 Selected Problems in Public Affairs (4)
Specific topics relevant to the understanding and study of public policy-making. Topics for examination may vary from semester to semester. May be repeated for credit if topic is different.
Pub 503 (Pad 503) Principles of Public Economics (4)
How do markets allocate resources in an economy? How do firms operate in both the sort run and the long run? What effect do taxes have on markets? What are the key rationales for governments to intervene in the economy? This class surveys microeconomic theory, with particular emphasis on principles most relevant for government and applications to policy or management. Prerequisites: Pad 501 and familiarity with algebra.
Pub 504 (Pad 504) Data, Models, and Decisions I (4)
Introduction to computer-based tools for planning, policy analysis, and decision making. Topics include administrative and policy models in spreadsheets, dynamic models in difference equations and spreadsheets, making decisions with multiple criteria, resource allocation, probability and decision trees, data bases and information management, and telecommunications in local networks and the Internet. Prerequisites: Familiarity with word processing on either IBM or Macintosh platforms.
Pub 507 (Pad 507) Professional Application I (2)
This course emphasizes the early development of professional skills, the ability to work in teams, career planning, and an awareness of trade-offs in modern administration. It normally is taken during the fall semester. Available only for degree-seeking students in Public Administration and Policy. Prerequisite: This module normally is taken concurrently with Pad 500. Successful completion of pre-semester masters orientation.
Pub 511 Land Use Policy (4)
The place of land in American history, the preservation ethic, pressures that point to federal action, the role of the state, especially New York, in grappling with land determination. Crisis in public policy on strip mining, power plant siting, wilderness protection, husbandry of national forest, and dedication of open space.
Pub 512 (Hpm 502) Central Issues in Health Policy (3)
An examination of some of the major issues confronting health policy makers in the areas of health systems, family and community health, and environmental and occupational health. Provides an overview of the impact of public policy on health status, with a more intensive study of a few specific problems such as the financing and organization of medical care for the elderly, retarded and mentally ill.
Pub 514 Economics for Public Affairs II (4)
Further development and application of microeconomic concepts and tools to issues in public policy analysis. Particular attention is paid to the use of the norms of equity and efficiency in the evaluation of government policies, and the practical concerns of performing policy analysis. Students gain an appreciation for the strengths and weaknesses of the economic perspective in performing analysis. Prerequisite: Public Economics and Finance I and completion or concurrent enrollment in Data, Models, and Decisions II.
Pub 525Q (Wss 525, Pos 525Q, Aps 525) Feminist Thought and Public Policy (4)
Examination of the implications of public policy research and implementation from a feminist perspective; the coherence or lack of it amongst different models of public policy formation, different perspectives on specific public policy issues, and different orientations within the women's movement.
Pub 532 (Pad 532) Performance Measurement and Contracting in Government (4)
This course considers the problem of measuring performance in government, where performance measurement is used for accountability, managerial, and evaluation purposes. As most government services and goods are provided via arms length transactions with non- or quasi-governmental organizations, a focus of the course is the problem of contracting in the public sector. The course also considers alternative means (e.g., auctions) by which governments allocate use of public assets (e.g. timber rights, bandwidth). Prerequisites: Pad 503 and Pad 505, or their equivalent.
Pub 535 (Pln 535) Environmental Restoration & Brownfields Redevelopment (3-4)
Introduces students to the fundamental issues that confront stakeholders engaged in redeveloping brownfields. Risk analysis and communication, economic aspects, political and social constraints, and the role of public participation are central themes. Linked to brownfields are also smart growth, sustainable development, urban revitalization, and quality of life concerns. The nexus of these fundamental planning concepts and environmental quality will also be explored.
Pub 550 (Pad 550) Foundations of Government Information Strategy and Management (4)
Introduces the interaction of policy, management, and information technology in the design, operation, and evaluation of government operations and public services. Relies heavily on case studies to illustrate how these domains play out in multiple settings and across sectors-public, private, and not-for-profit. Prerequisites: Pad 500, Pub 522, and Permission of Instructor.
Pub 557 (Pad 557) Intelligence Analysis for Homeland Security (4)
This course provides instruction in conducting intelligence analysis, with emphasis on homeland security issues at the State and local levels. After an overview of the history and structure of the US foreign intelligence community, we review the fundamentals of intelligence analysis tradecraft as practiced within the CIA and other federal intelligence agencies. Extensive time is devoted to learning and using structured analytic techniques through student-led analytic exercises on terrorism and major crimes.
Pub 558 (Pad 558) Intelligence & US National Security Policymaking (4)
This seminar examines the role of intelligence in the formulation and implementation of US foreign policy. Through critical analysis and case studies, students will develop techniques to increase intelligence’s contribution to policy deliberations while ensuring that it does not prescribe policy. The course will assess the most appropriate role for the CIA and the Intelligence Community in supporting this executive branch process. After an overview of the CIA, its functions, structure, and capabilities. We review the US foreign policy process, key players, and institutional bias. The bulk of the course is devoted to a series of mock intelligence and policy meetings on the Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq crises to critically analyze the CIA’s proper role in supporting the policy process.
Pub 565 (Pad 565) Hudson River Watershed: Environment, Society and Policy (4)
Interdisciplinary consideration of Hudson River and its watershed from environmental perspective: history; political, social, economic, geographic and demographic factors; urban development; ecology; geologic origins; living resources; pollution; environmentalism and cultural forces leading to environmentalism; environmental policy; governmental and non-governmental organizations and institutions.
Pub 581 (Pos 581) Comparative Defense Policy (4)
Examines how different countries tailor grand strategy and military doctrine to their conception of national security. Draws from cases in Europe, North America, and Asia in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Pub 597 (Pos 597) The Politics of Economic Integration (4)
Examines the political origins and thrusts of the Common Market, integration and imperialist strategies pursued by nation states. Case studies of integration and/or disintegration include the political development of Germany, the USA, EEC, and COMECON.
Pub 598 (Pos 598) Defense Policy and National Security (4)
Defense policies and decision makers' conceptions of national security. Focuses on main international actors of the twentieth century; emphasizes economic and strategic considerations in defense policy making in World Wars I and II and the postwar era.
Pub 601 (Hpm 601) Workshop in Public Health (3)
Students work in teams on selected health policy problems that draw upon the analytic and management skills learned in other courses. Topics address health and environmental/occupational health. Prerequisite(s): Completion of other core courses.
Pub 629 (Pad 629) Risk Analysis (4)
This course will review the state-of-the-field in health and environmental risk analysis, with special attention to psychological, organizational, institutional, political, legal and economic factors that influence contemporary attitudes and policies concerning such risks.
Pub 635 (Pad 635, Hpm 615) Health, Safety and Environmental Regulation (4)
Presents a political and economic assessment of risk regulation policies as they have developed for air and water pollution, work place risks, auto safety, drug regulation and nuclear power. Prerequisite: Hpm 501 or consent of instructor.
Pub 648 (Crj 648) Terrorism, Public Security, and Law Enforcement (3)
This course reviews the role of domestic law enforcement in homeland security, including the prevention of and response to terrorism. Consideration of strategic issues that arise with respect to specific forms of terrorist threats, and of managerial issues, including the collection, analysis, and dissemination of intelligence, risk assessment and resource allocation, intergovernmental and interagency cooperation and conflict, and investigative authority and civil liberties.
Pub 650 (Pad 650) Building a Case for IT Investments in the Public Sector (4)
This course presents a formal methodology for making IT investment decisions including problem definition, stakeholder analysis, process analysis, best and current practices, technology awareness, and case building. Students will engage in a project with a university or government customer to build a business case for a new IT investment. Prerequisites: Pad 500, Pub 522, or permission of instructor.
Pub 666 (Pos 666, Pad 666) International Environmental Policy (4)
Considers alternative explanations for global environmental dilemmas, including population growth, poverty and runaway technology and the way in which each factor has shaped environmental policy.
Pub 690 Internship in Public Affairs (4)
Individual directed internship program with an appropriate institution concerned with the administration of public affairs. Normally the internship will be for a full semester and the student will be required to submit a written and systematic analysis of the internship experience for evaluation. The student is required to submit an internship prospectus, approved by the advisor, and a copy of the final written internship evaluation to the director of the program. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
Pub 698 Master's Essay in Public Affairs and Policy (4)
Required of all students receiving the M.A. in public affairs and policy.
Pub 705 Substantive Areas in Public Policy (4)
An intensive analysis of substantive areas in public policy such as health, science, technology, environment and other issues relevant to student programs and curricular coherence. Students will be expected to write a major research paper demonstrating analytic skills and familiarity with scholarly literature.
