Introduction to Public Policy

Course overview

Introduction to public policy, including key political actors and institutions involved in policy making, public policy theories, the context of the policy process, policy evaluation and analysis of alternative policy approaches.  In this course, we will break down the policy making process and investigate the key stages, actors, and institutions that play a role in shaping policy.  We will examine why government acts on some issues and not others and why particular types of policies are developed over other alternative approaches. We will consider the different policy tools available to address public issues and evaluate the effectiveness of these different types of policy solutions. Lastly, students will develop their own evaluations of contemporary community issues and policy responses to these challenges. We will learn about how the policy making process works generally through examining real life cases facing our communities, such as health care disparities, climate change, cannabis legalization, income inequality, and many other issues. Lastly, we will center this study of public policy around its role and relevancy to your life and interests. 

Course Format

This course will be offered again in Spring 2025 semester as a fully online course. 

Important Dates

You can find other important dates on the Admissions and Records Important Dates webpage.

Course Textbook

We will use a Open Education Resource (OER) textbook for POLS15. This is a zero cost (free) textbook that you will access through Canvas.