Course Code: GP-

Course Title: Models of Public

Policy Process: Perspectives from
Pakistan

No. of Credits: 3

Department of Government & Public

Policy
National Defence University - Pakistan

Course Introduction

Public policy is plainly understood as a stated or unstated course of

action or non-action by the government to achieve a desirable status of
society. This course is designed to engage students to appreciate the
theoretical issues of the public policy process by applying the theoretical
models of the Public Policy process in the context of Pakistan. The course
starts with explaining the nature and concept of Public Policy and later
talks about various types of public policies. After the students develop an
understanding regarding the basic concepts of Public Policy the students
are introduced with the basic public policy process and the various actors
of public policy which play different roles during the process. The course
covers a wide variety of advance models of public policy from the
perspective various public policies implemented in Pakistan. The wide
variety of models from the perspective of Pakistan helps students develop
analytical as well as critical skills for studying Public Policies of Pakistan.

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 Students become familiar with various definitions of public policy, different policy
types, and policy tools.
 Students demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the stages of the public policy
process.
 Students grasp various models and theories of the public policy process.
 Students identify the major actors and institutions in the different stages of the
policy process.
 Students appreciate the political nature of the policy process, with a sharp focus on
the various interests/participants in the process from the perspective of Pakistan.
 Students recognize the public policy as an outcome of collective process where
the role of social construction is critical.
 Students are able to apply theories of decision-making to different types of
policy- making in Pakistan.
 Students discern different approaches in policy implementation studies and
evaluate their relative strengths and weaknesses.
 Students understand the intertwined relationship in the utility, significance, and
participants of policy evaluation.
 Students develop a keen sense of how policy analysis and evaluation contribute to
improving the democratic policy process.
 Students identify and analyze policy issues of their choice using specific theories of
the policy process which will help the PhD students while pursuing their
dissertation.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS

 Thomas A. Birkland. 2011. An Introduction to the Policy Process: Theories,

Concepts, and Models of Public Policy Making. (3rd edition). Armonk, NY: Me.E.
Sharpe.
 Michael Hill and Frédéric Varone. 2017. The Public Policy Process. 7th Edition.
Routledge

REFERENCES

 Thomas R. Dye. 2011. Understanding Public Policy. 13th edition. Longman.

ISBN- 13: 978-0-205-77417-3
 Michael Hill and Peter Hupe. 2009. Implementing Public Policy. 2nd edition.
Sage. ISBN-13: 978-1-4129-4799-2
 Michael Howlett, M. Ramesh, and Anthony Perl. 2009. Studying Public Policy:
Policy Cycles & Policy Subsystems. (3rd edition). New York, NY: Oxford University
Press. ISBN: 978-0195428025.
 Anne Larason Schneider and Helen Ingram. 1997. Policy Design for Democracy.
University Press of Kansas. ISBN-13: 978-070060844-7

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  Michael Moran, Martin Rein, and Robert E. Goodin (Eds.). 2008. The Oxford
Handbook of Public Policy. Oxford University Press. ISBN: 978-0-19-954845-3.
 Paul A. Sabatier. 2007. Theories of the Policy Process. (2nd edition). Westview Press.
 Deborah Stone. 2002. Policy Paradox: The Art of Decision Making. Revised edition.
W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN-13: 978-0-393-976250
 Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein. 2008. Nudge. Penguin Books.
 Stella Z. Theodoulou. 2001. Policy and Politics in Six Nations: A
Comparative Perspective on Policy Making. Prentice Hall. ISBN: 978-0-13-
086603-5.

STUDENT REQUIREMENTS

1. Examination
There will be two in-class examinations. The first is held during the mid of the course and the
second will be taken at the end of the term. The exam will cover the class readings and
discussions, testing students’ overall understanding of the public policy process from
Pakistan’s perspective. The exam will require creative and imaginative thinking.

2. Class Exercises
 Quizzes: There are 5 quizzes will be administered. Quizzes will be provided on
dates at the instructor’s discretion.
 Reading Presentations: For the majority of the class meetings, student will
present articles/chapters from the reading list. The instructor will enlist volunteers
for presentation. The presenter is expected to prepare PowerPoint slides.
 Discussions and participation: During the class, the instructor will ask lots of
questions. Students are expected to actively offer their own views and understanding
of the issues

Student Assessment
 Final Exam: 35%
 Review Paper 15%
 Mid-Term 20%
 Quizzes 15%
 Assignments 15%
Course Overview:
Week 1: Introduction (Review of Syllabus)
Public Policy as a Field of Study (Practice and History)
 Birkland, Chapter 1
 Lasswell, Harold D. 1951. “The policy orientation,” in Daniel Lerner and Harold
D.
Week 2: Understanding Public Policy
 Dye (2011), Chapters 2&3 (pp.11-53)
Week 3: Types of Public Policies Presentations from the Perspective of Policies in
Pakistan
Week 4: Lasswell’s Public Policy Process
 Public Policy Cycle and Examples from Pakistan
Week 5: Theories of Power and the Policy Process
 Michael Hill, Public Policy Process Chapter 2
 Power Grid Mapping Pakistani Political Regimes.
Week 6: Policy Context: Actors, Interests, and Values
 Michael Hayes, 2017. Incrementalism and Public Policy-Making
https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.133
 Denis Saint-Martin & Christine Rothmayr Allison (2011) Rationalism and public
policy: Mode of analysis or symbolic politics?, Policy and Society, 30:1, 19-27,
DOI: 10.1016/j.polsoc.2010.12.003
 Gilley, B. Technocracy and democracy as spheres of justice in public policy. Policy
Sci 50, 9–22 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-016-9260-2
 Mónica Bifarello, 2001. The role of social actors in shaping public policy.
http://www.lasociedadcivil.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/bifarello4.pdf
Week 7: Presentations on Analyzing Policies of Pakistan with the context of
Actors Involved
Week 8: Pluralism in the Context of Public Policy
 Michael Hill, Public Policy Process Chapter 3

Week 9: Rational Choice Theory in the Context of Public Policy

Michael Hill, Public Policy Process Chapter 5

Lindbloom, Charles E. 1959. “The science of muddling through,”
Public Administration Review 19:79-88.
 Forester, John. 1984. “Bounded rationality and the politics of muddling through,”
Public Administration Review 44(1): 23-31.
Week 10: Rational Choice Theory in the Context of Public Policy

 Michael Hill, Public Policy Process Chapter 5

 Game Theory
 Political Spectrum (Analyzing Various Elections of Pakistan)

Week 11: Elitism in the Context of Public Policy

 Policy Communities & Policy Networks
 Iron Triangle
  Mobilization Bias
 Pakistan and Foreign Intervention
 Pakistan and Judicial Intervention
 Transgender Protection of Rights (Pakistan) Act. 2018 and Concept of Policy
Communities

Week 12: Institutional Theory and Garbage-can Model

 Models for Role of State
 Organized Anarchy
 Garbage-Can Model and the Case of Health Policies in Pakistan.
 Michael Hill, Public Policy Process Chapter 4

Week 13: Theory of Concentrated Benefits and Diffuse Costs (CBDC)

 Weingast, B., Shepsle, K., & Johnsen, C. (1981). The Political Economy of Benefits and
Costs: A Neoclassical Approach to Distributive Politics. Journal of Political Economy,
89(4), 642-664. Retrieved January 6, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1833029.
 CBDC –Grid and Examples from Pakistan (Sugar Mill Scandals) (Energy Policies in
Pakistan1994-2018)

Week 14: Hofferbert’s Open System Framework of Public Policy

 System’s Theory
 Dawson and Robinson (1963) Model for Policy Action
 Dye’s (1966) Model Policy Change
 Sharkansky’s (1970) Model for Policy Impact
 Hofferbert’s Model for Policy Process (1973) Examples from Pakistan (Provisional
Provincial Status of Gilgit Baltistan)
 Anti-Rape Ordinance of Pakistan 2020.
 Moran et al. (2008), Chapter 17 (pp. 367-388)

Week 15: Paul Sabatier and Hank Jenkins-Smith’s Advocacy Coalition

Framework (ACF)
 https://www.ippapublicpolicy.org/teaching-ressource/the-advocacy-coalition-
framework/7
 Application of ACF upon Anti-Rape Ordinance of Pakistan 2020
 Population Control Policies in Pakistan Application ACF
 National Action Plan 2014 by NCTA Application of ACF
Week 16: Review Paper Presentation
 While all of the students will prepare presentation slides, one third of them will
present.
 Review Paper Due

**This syllabus may be subject to changes at the instructor’s discretion if necessary. **