Political Economy of Public Policy PubP&Adm 697A

Objectives, Content, and Methods

The course uses the methods of political economy to analyze public policy, with an emphasis on contested policies. Our approach will examine class and other conflicts in framing public policy debates. We will give particular attention to competing economic theories and to the role of expertise in conflicts over public policy. By the end of the course, students should be able to identify the intellectual origins of alternative economic critiques of policy and to apply this method to policies of interest. Topics will include: the welfare state and poverty; macroeconomic policy; social insurance; deregulation and competition; labor markets and policy; environment; and globalization and trade.

Organization, Assignments, and Grading

Student-led discussion

An essential component of the course is student-led discussion. A group of two students will present the texts and guide the discussion for each session. Both students will receive the same grade for the session, which implies that cooperation is important. The process has the following components:

• In the preceding class meeting, distribute study questions to guide reading. The questions should be substantive and thought-provoking rather than a simple scavenger-hunt for facts.
• On the preceding Monday, provide me with an outline of your presentation and specify the technical material that I should elucidate in my lecture.
• In the session, the group will (1) discuss the main points of the texts and assess the quality of argument or evidence; (2) present an explanation of a model, table, or figure from the text; (3) provide a detailed analysis of one citation in the text; and (4) lead student discussion of the material.

The presentation may use either transparencies for an overhead projector or a presentation projected from a computer. You are not obligated to use these methods, but the course offers a good opportunity to learn how to use these tools.

Writing assignments

Students will prepare brief written response to the study questions that the presenting group distributes and submit the responses at the end of each class. Although the responses need not be complete or elegant answers, they should show signs of reflection on and synthesis of material in the reading.

A central goal for the course is to help students identify alternative economic critiques of policy. Each alternative critique derives from a distinct, coherent set of economic principles, which Economic Issues Today terms Conservative, Liberal, and Radical. The two main writing assignments for the course are to apply the method of Economic Issues Today to policy topics that are of particular interest. The policy topics can include material from the summer internship or workshop or in preparation for the capstone. The first assignment will be due on Wednesday, November 3, and the second assignment will be due on Thursday, December 16.

In accordance with CPPA policy, the syllabus reprints the CPPA plagiarism policy. "Representing the words or ideas of another as one's own work in any academic exercise is plagiarism, one of the most serious forms of academic dishonesty. This includes submitting without citation, in whole or in part, the research of another. Students are responsible for complying with the University of Massachusetts plagiarism policy. The University of Massachusetts policy and other information on plagiarism are included in the CPPA student handbook. Cases of plagiarism may be referred to official University of Massachusetts channels."

Grading

Grades will be assigned according to the following schedule. Please note that your grade depends on a fixed standard of comprehension and expression, not comparisons to other students. Therefore, you should feel comfortable discussing and sharing your notes and ideas with your fellow students as well as collaborating throughout.

Reading

Please complete readings by the due dates indicated in the schedule; or you cannot participate in discussion.

Books. All three books are required and are available from Amherst Books

1. Ron Baiman, Heather Boushey, and Dawn Saunders, eds., (BBS), Political Economy and Contemporary Capitalism: Radical Perspectives on Economic Theory and Policy, (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2000).
2. Robert B. Carson, Wade L. Thomas, and Jason Hecht (EIT), Economic Issues Today: Alternative Approaches, Seventh Edition, (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2002).
3. Albert O. Hirschman, Exit Voice and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1970).

Other Readings and Resources (and their availability)

• Michael Ash and T. Robert Fetter "Who Lives on the Wrong Side of the Environmental Tracks?" Social Science Quarterly, June 2004. Mimeograph.
• Michael Ash and Krista Harper "The Tisza Chemical Spill of January 2000," in History in Dispute, Volume 7: Global Water Issues, Char Miller, Mark Cioc and Kate Showers, editors (Columbia, SC: Bruccoli Clark Layman, 2001). Mimeograph.
• Katherine Boo, "The Company Town," The New Yorker, July 5, 2004. Mimeograph.
• James Boyce, Chapter 1: Stealing the Commons, The Political Economy of the Environment, (Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 2002). Mimeograph and Dubois Reserve.
• Council of Economic Advisers, Chapter 6: Promoting Competition in Traditionally Regulated Industries, Economic Report of the President, 1996. Mimeograph and http://www.gpoaccess.gov/eop/.
• Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America, (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2001). Dubois Reserve.
• Environmental Working Group (EWG), "Green Acre$: How Taxpayers are Subsidizing the Demise of the Family Farm," (http://www.ewg.org).
• The Green Book: Background Material and Data on Programs Within the Jurisdiction of the House Committee on Ways and Means http://www.gpoaccess.gov/wmprints/green/index.html
• Journal of Economic Perspectives (JEP), Symposium on the Council of Economic Advisers, Summer 1996. JSTOR.
• Robert Moffitt, "Incentive Effects of the U.S. Welfare System: A Review," Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 30, No. 1. (Mar., 1992), pp. 1-61. JSTOR.
• Amartya Sen, "The Possibility of Social Choice," Lecture to the memory of Alfred Nobel, December 8, 1998 (http://nobelprize.org/economics/laureates/1998/sen-lecture.html)
• Statistical Abstract of the United States, http://www.census.gov/statab/www/
• Joseph Stiglitz, Distinguished Lecture on Economics in Government: The Private Uses of Public Interests: Incentives and Institutions, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 12, No. 2 (Spring, 1998), pp. 3-22. JSTOR.

I ask that you read from magazines and think-tank publications that address matters of political economy and public policy. In particular, try to read publications that include explicitly partisan analysis, e.g., The American Prospect, http://www.prospect.org, or The Weekly Standard, http://weeklystandard.com/. Additionally, many think-tanks make their publications available on-line. I urge you to develop facility with finding relevant material at these sites. Please let me know as soon as possible if you would like a brief lesson on the use of a web browser for research and retrieval.

• Center for Economic and Policy Research, http://www.cepr.net
• Economic Policy Institute, http://www.epinet.org/
• Institute for Women's Policy Research, http://www.iwpr.org/
• Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, http://www.gpoaccess.gov/wmprints/green/index.html
• Brookings Institution, http://www.brook.edu/
• American Enterprise Institute, http://www.aei.org/
• Cato Institute, http://www.cato.org/
• Heritage Foundation, http://www.heritage.org/

Schedule