Module description
This module aims to provide an advanced understanding of the politics behind the policy-making process, and the main trends in contemporary policy-making. We focus on the different actors and factors that play a role in the policy-making process, including public opinion, political parties, interest groups and lobbying, and political institutions and ideas. We take an empirical and comparative perspective, seeking to understand variation in policy-making across countries. We also look at selected trends in policy-making, including the rise of environmental policy, reforms in welfare state policies, fiscal consolidation, and the insulation of policy-making from politics. We mainly draw on political science literature, but also look at studies of policy-making in economics, law, and sociology. In the seminars, we critically evaluate the theoretical and empirical arguments, and we apply the theories to real-world policy cases, evaluating the importance of different explanations. The focus of the module is generic, though the literature is mainly concerned with policy-making in EU and OECD countries. The module builds on the knowledge developed in Comparing Political Systems (4SSPP103) and it complements Policy Analysis: Decision, Implementation and Evaluation (5SSPP231).
Assessment details
(1) One group-written policy report (3,000 words per group; 20%) & (2) One individually written policy report (3,000 words, 80%).
Educational aims & objectives
This module aims to provide an advanced understanding of the politics behind the policy-making process, and the main trends in contemporary policy-making. We focus on the different actors and factors that play a role in the policy-making process, including public opinion, political parties, interest groups and lobbying, and political institutions and ideas. We take an empirical and comparative perspective, seeking to understand variation in policy-making across countries. We also look at selected trends in policy-making, including the rise of environmental policy, reforms in welfare state policies, fiscal consolidation, and the insulation of policy-making from politics. We mainly draw on political science literature, but also look at studies of policy-making in economics, law, and sociology. In the seminars, we critically evaluate the theoretical and empirical arguments, and we apply the theories to real-world policy cases, evaluating the importance of different explanations. The focus of the module is generic, though the literature is mainly concerned with policy-making in EU and OECD countries. The module builds on the knowledge developed in Comparing Political Systems (4SSPP103) and it complements Policy Analysis: Decision, Implementation and Evaluation (5SSPP231).
Learning outcomes
Students who have completed this module should be able to:
- name the core actors that are involved in policy-making, and the different factors that play a role in the policy-making process;
- identify and contrast the core features of the different types of explanations of change and variation in policy-making;
- apply the different types of explanations to cases of policy-making which have not yet been assessed in the literature;
- critically evaluate the strength and weaknesses of the different types of explanations, particularly in relation to change and variation in specific policy areas;
- make reasoned arguments – both orally and in writing – on the reasons behind the introduction of policies, the variation in policy-making across countries, and policy change