Public Policy

This course will cover a wide range of topics, from the norms and values informing democratic policymaking to the basics of cost-benefit and other tools of policy analysis. This course will also examine a variety of issues considered to be '93social problems. The course will look into how particular issues came to be considered as '93problems'94 in the first place, while other issues do not. Though emphases will differ, all sections will address the institutional arrangements for making public policy decisions, the role of various actors-including nonprofit and private-sector professionals-in shaping policy outcomes, and the fundamentals (and limits) of analytic approaches to public policy.

This course examines ethical and political questions that arise in doing public service work, whether volunteering, service learning, humanitarian endeavours overseas, or public service professions such as medicine and teaching. What motives do people have to engage in public service work? Are self-interested motives troublesome? What is the connection between service work and justice? Should the government or schools require citizens or students to perform service work? Is mandatory service an oxymoron? This course will aid you conduct a critical investigation of ethics, ideals and values commonly attributed to public service in Saudi Arabia.

This course introduces undergraduates to the basic theory, institutional architecture, and practice of international development. We take an applied, interdisciplinary approach to some of the '93big questions'94 in our field: What does development mean? Why are some countries persistently poorer than others? How have different stakeholders sought to address the challenges of development in the past, and how are they approaching these challenges now? Then we will look into how policy students can explore the complexities of the policy-making process from the perspective of specific policy topics. Students will learn about and discuss subject- based issues in a seminar format led by faculty and policy experts. Site visits to federal agencies, guest speakers, and round table sessions ensure that students receive a variety of real-world perspectives on their chosen policy area. This course will also examine the way that policies, politics, and the kingdom intersect and coevolve. To address these concepts, the course will draw on theoretical and empirical literature from comparative public policy, institutionalism, public administration, governance theory, and political sociology.