Policy studies

Introduction: Why study public policy?

Sciences Po BA, Paris campus, Session 1, 25/01/2021
Charlotte Halpern (Sciences Po, CEE): charlotte.halpern@sciencespo.fr
What is the course about?
• Why do governments, public authorities do the things they do, particularly when
those things are contradictory?
• A strong motivation to understand public problems and find solutions to them !

• Public policy making is about problem solving and governments can provide
solutions
• But the content of public policies or its format (law, regulations) is not enough

=> Understand the policy process and how it works

=> Learn about theories, concepts and assumptions about how public problems
are discovered and how policies are created (or not) to address those problems.

Halpern, Policy studies BA Session 1, 25/01/2021

How does the course propose studying public
policy?

• It’s NOT a course about policy issues but about the process by which
policies are made and ways to study it

• An interdisciplinary perspective on the policy process

• Policy studies can be approached from many different academic perspectives:
economics, sociology, law, history … here mainly approached as a political
activity

Halpern, Policy studies BA Session 1, 25/01/2021

Session outline
1. Understanding the policy process
2. Defining public policy
3. The place of policy studies in the social sciences
4. Presentation of the course’s content,
requirements and grading

Halpern, Policy studies BA Session 1, 25/01/2021

1. Understanding the policy
process

Halpern, Policy studies BA Session 1, 25/01/2021

The policy process as a political activity
• One of the ways through which societies figure out how to organize and
regulate themselves, i.e. how to govern themselves
• It is located in the public sphere OR in relation with the public sphere
• Scale
• Timing
• What is “public”
• The nature of political power

• Harold Lasswell (1958): the policy process is about “Who gets what, when
and how”
Ø Policy studies as the art or science of government – A profession unto
itself AND an object of study

Halpern, Policy studies BA Session 1, 25/01/2021

 From policy sciences to policy studies
John Dewey
Philosopher and psychologist, Univ of Chicago, later Columbia Univ. Public policy as ”the public
and its problems”.
Charles Merriam
Prof in political science at Univ Chicago, seeks to connect the theory & practice of
politics to understand the actual activities of government (1922)
Harold Lasswell
Prof in law and social sciences at Yale Univ, develops the notion of “policy sciences” by linking his work
on mass communication and government activity (1948).
“Policy science should be multi-disciplinary, problem-solving and explicitly normative” (1958, AR 1)

Policy studies as a discipline, a field of academic research and study:

- Until 1950s, a minor event occurring at the end of the process (John 2002)
- “A long history and a short past” (De Leon, see MR 1)
- It is still characterized by strong debates about its core set of principles, the definition of key terms
and ideas, and the frontiers with policy sciences & research as a field of professional practice.
- It is highly interdisciplinary, and draws upon inputs from various social sciences and from Law
Halpern, Policy studies BA Session 1, 25/01/2021
2. Defining public policy

Halpern, Policy studies BA Session 1, 25/01/2021

Multiple definitions of public policy
• The actions of government and the intentions that determine those actions
(Clarke Cochran et al.)
• The outcome of the struggle in government over who gets what (Clarke
Cochran et al.)
• Political decisions for implementing programs to achieve societal goals
(Charles Cochran & Eloise Malone)
• A statement by government, at whatever level or whatever form, of what it
intends to do about a public problem (Thomas Birkland)
• It involves articulating policy goals through policy deliberations &
discourses and using policy tools in an attempt to attain those goals
(Michael Howlett et al.)

Halpern, Policy studies BA Session 1, 25/01/2021

Key attributes of public policy (Birkland,
Chapter 1)
• It is made in response to some sort of problem that requires attention
• It is made on the “Public”’s behalf
• It is oriented towards a goal or desired state (a solution of a problem or a
larger societal goal)
• It is about a government’s capacity to adopt and implement a given policy
• It is ultimately made by governments, at whatever level, even if the ideas
come from outside government or through the interaction between
governmental and nongovernmental actors
• It is interpreted and implemented by public and private actors who have
different interpretations of problems, solutions and their own motivations
• It is what governments chose to do or NOT to do
Halpern, Policy studies BA Session 1, 25/01/2021
More definitions of public policy !
• The sum of government activities, whether acting directly or through
agents, as it has an influence on the life of citizens (Guy Peters)
• Whatever governments chose to do or not to do (Thomas Dye)
• Public policy as a specific form of collective action with a focus on
processes & dynamics as much as on outputs (Pierre Lascoumes,
Patrick Le Galès)
• All forms of collective action resulting from the mobilization of a
plurality of actors, public and private, acting jointly in multiple
interdependencies and across various scales (Jacques Commaille)

Halpern, Policy studies BA Session 1, 25/01/2021

3. The place of policy studies in
the social sciences

Halpern, Policy studies BA Session 1, 25/01/2021

The place of policy studies in the social sciences: a
“public policy morphology” (Peter May)
• Policy studies as the study of how governments, public authorities
seek to address specific problems
• Different variants
• Public policy processes: the formulation and implementation of public policy,
usually in a given context
• Comparative public policy: cross-national, cross-sectoral, cross-political
systems
• Public policy analysis: a logic of analysis and set of techniques in support of
public policy decision-making
• Public policy research: applied social science research aimed at documenting
policy problems and evaluating interventions. Problem driven.

Halpern, Policy studies BA Session 1, 25/01/2021

Discipline Description: the study of …
Political … political relationships, the way through which political
science power is allocated & the benefits of such power
Sociology … social life, change, causes and consequences of human
behaviour; it investigates the structure of groups,
organizations and societies, & people interact within these
contexts
Economics … the allocation of resources in a community; markets &
exchanges. Welfare economists seek to understand the
extent to which a community’s welfare can be maximized.
Public … the management of government & non profit
administration organizations, incl. money, information, personnel, in order
to achieve goals.
Law & legal … the professional craft of law, the functioning of law and
studies legal institutions; and its interplay with politics. The
reciprocal impact of law on society and of society on law.
Public policy The study of what governments choose to do or not do,
incl. study of the policy process.
Halpern, Policy studies BA Session 1, 25/01/2021
Relationship to public policy
The political process as the process through which
policies are made and enforced
Community & group activities are an important part
of policy making
Many economic factors influence public policy. The
tools of economics are often used to promote
policies & explain why they succeed or fail.
The management of public programs is an integral
part of the policy process. Study of the motivation
of program implementers & targets, help research
innovations to improve service delivery
Law and legal institutions influence public policy.
Constitutive of politics and their outputs.
Highly interdisciplinary study of the public policy
process. Theories about how the process works,
develop tools and methods to analyse how it
evolves
4. Presentation of the course’s
content, requirements and
grading

Halpern, Policy studies BA Session 1, 25/01/2021

 Course outline
(check Syllabus for more details)
1. Why study public policies?
2. What motivates States interventions?
3. Contexts of public policies
4. What is the policy process ?
5. Policy problems as a social construct
6. Agenda-setting
7. Regulatory policies in a comparative perspective
8. Decision-making
9. Making law, Making policy
10. Contexts of implementation
11. Institutions matter, but why and how?
12. Policy evaluation
Halpern, Policy studies BA Session 1, 25/01/2021
Learning outcomes
• Main goal: to develop high level analytic skills to meet the demands
of complex contemporary public policy making
• Understand the various factors and constituencies that influence policy
processes;
• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of theories, concepts and
analytical tools available to analyze policy processes;
• Apply skills and knowledge acquired in the curriculum to analyze concrete
policy issues;
• Develop an ability to effectively identify, gather and analyze the supporting
evidence and data needed to apply these skills;
• Communicate complex ideas clearly and persuasively in written forms

Halpern, Policy studies BA Session 1, 25/01/2021

Information & material to be
found on Moodle!
https://moodle.sciences-po.fr/course/view.php?id=8531
 REQUIRED WORK AND FORM OF ASSESSMENT
• Weakly lectures illustrated by case studies
• Mandatory readings: 1 article / book chapter per week
• Strongly recommended: Textbook

• 3 Assignments (check FAQs for more detailed Exercises 1 press kit

information): on MR (1 (40%)
• A Press kit => Anytime during the term, BEFORE April 6 MCQ & 1
• A quiz on mandatory readings => questions to be Quiz) (20%)
developed by students + quiz on Week 12
• A final exam (details tbc by ScPo admin – check calendar
here, exams to take place between May 4-12)
1 final exam
(40%)
• Creative curiosity
• Additional readings, incl. classic works in policy studies
• Be aware of current political and economic events

Halpern, Policy studies BA Session 1, 25/01/2021

 https://www.sciencespo.fr/students/sites/sciencespo.fr.students/files/ca
lendrier-universitaire-fr.pdf

Tuesday, May 4 => Wednesday, May 12

Halpern, Policy studies BA Session 1, 25/01/2021

Overview of main assignments over the
semester
January February March April May

Course sessions 1-12

No Final exam
class (dates TbC)

Assignment 1: one textbook & weekly mandatory readings

Assignment 2: Press kit (by April 6, 23:59 CET)

Group Group Group Group Quiz

A B C D

Halpern, Policy studies BA Session 1, 25/01/2021

Methodology tutorials
• A weekly lecture, no methodology tutorial linked to this course.
• Weekly information provided in class, attendance strongly
recommended.
• FAQs on Moodle
• Questions about readings, lectures and assignments? Use the “Forum
section” on Moodle or email Roberto Rodriguez
roberto.rodriguez@sciencespo.fr

Halpern, Policy studies BA Session 1, 25/01/2021

Thank you !