Master of Arts in Public Policy and Administration
MPPA 402-DL
( Core Course ) Elements of Public Finance and Budgeting
This course covers the theory and practice of public finance, which includes welfare aspects of taxation and public expenditure decisions, budgeting, public investment, external costs and benefits, and public debt. MPPA and MPPA distance learning program core course.
Winter 2010
W
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Sec. 55
1/6/10 - 3/10/10
Instructor:
MPPA 403-DL
( Core Course ) Fundamentals of Public Administration
This course is an introduction to the basic skills useful to public administrators and policy analysts seeking to work in an analytical or managerial position in the public or not-for profit-sectors. This course is structured to introduce students to both the principles and contextual constraints that form the environment of the modern public administrator. It will cover a basic understanding of the process, policy, and politics of public administration and public management at the national, state, and local level. Fundamental theories, practices, and concepts that contribute to the administration and understanding of complex public sector organizations are explored, as well as basic practices and techniques of modern public administration. The course assumes a basic foundation in political science theory, public policy, or public administration usually garnered at the undergraduate level as well as a working knowledge of contemporary issues that confront governments today. Counts toward all MPPA specializations as an elective for students admitted prior to fall 2006. Required as a core course for students admitted for fall 2006 and after. MPPA and MPPA distance learning program core course.
Winter 2010
Tu
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Sec. 55
1/5/10 - 3/9/10
Instructor:
Summer 2010
Tu
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Sec. 55
6/22/10 - 8/17/10
Instructor:
MPPA 404-DL
( Core Course ) Microeconomics for Public Policy and Administration
Economics is about choice, and microeconomics is the study of resource allocation choices, beginning with how consumers and producers make choices. This course is aimed at developing student understanding of microeconomic theory, especially as it concerns the relationship between the market economy and public policy. Topics include consumer behavior and the theory of demand; production, cost, supply functions; choices under uncertainty, insurance; competitive equilibrium; subsidies, taxes, price controls; monopoly and monopsony; price discrimination and public utility pricing; monopolistic competition; general equilibrium theory and welfare economics; information theory; and public goods, externalities and market failure. Required core course in the distance learning program.
Spring 2010
Th
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Sec. 55
4/1/10 - 6/3/10
Instructor:
MPPA 405-DL
( Core Course ) Elementary Statistics for Research
This course teaches students the fundamentals of measuring political data, summarizing observations, and analyzing contingency tables. Descriptive statistics, including central tendency, dispersion, and data display; probability; distributions, including binomial and normal; inference, including confidence intervals and hypothesis testing; correlation; bivariate regression; contingency tables and chi-square. MPPA core course. Beginning in spring 2006, students will do homework using SPSS, a statistical software package. SPSS is installed in some Northwestern computer labs and can be rented (downloaded to your personal computer) for six months from www.e-academy.com. The software is called SPSS 14 for Windows Career Starter. MPPA and MPPA distance learning program core course.
Spring 2010
Tu
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Sec. 55
3/30/10 - 6/1/10
Instructor:
MPPA 406-DL
( Core Course ) Analytic Methods for Public Policy Analysis
This course will expose students to a set of tools and principles that fall under the heading of "analytic methods." These methods help public policy and program analysts systematically value decisions, improve the decision-making process (and hopefully the resultant decisions), value inputs and outcomes, handle uncertainty, and compare aspects of public policy and systems that might not otherwise appear to be comparable. Topics include discounting techniques, cost-benefit analysis, decision theory, difference equations, and elements of microeconomic analysis. MPPA and MPPA distance learning program core course.
Fall 2009
Tu
7:00 - 9:30 PM
Sec. 55
9/22/09 - 11/24/09
Instructor:
Summer 2010
Tu
7:00 - 9:30 PM
Sec. 55
6/22/10 - 8/17/10
Instructor:
MPPA 407-DL
( Core Course ) Scope and Dynamics of Public Policy
This course is an introduction to the public policy process in the United States. It focuses on developing an understanding of what "political" and "public policy" mean and how public policy is made. The course considers agenda setting, decision making theory and methods of analyzing policy outcomes. Course materials will provide students with the analytical framework to explore why some problems reach the public agenda, why some solutions are adopted and others rejected, and why some policies appear to succeed while others appear to fail. It will examine policy making primarily at the national level but will also look at examples at the state and local level. MPPA and MPPA distance learning program core course.
Fall 2009
W
7:00 - 9:30 PM
Sec. 55
9/23/09 - 12/2/09
Instructor:
Spring 2010
M
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Sec. 55
3/29/10 - 6/7/10
Instructor:
MPPA 408-DL
( Core Course ) Sociology of Organizations
This course is an overview of the sociology of formal organizations (primarily in business and government), exploring both their structure and function. Topics of discussion include stratification, social control, and conflict; discretion, rules, and information in achieving goals; and modes of participation and development of informal norms. MPPA and MPPA distance learning program core course.
Spring 2010
M
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Sec. 55
3/29/10 - 6/7/10
Instructor:
MPPA 409-DL
( Core Course ) Applied Research and Writing
This course explores the methods and tools used to research and write graduate-level policy papers in the framework of current topics in public policy and administration such as strategic planning and leadership, personnel management, and the use of information technology in public organizations. The course emphasizes research and writing skills and affords students the opportunity to discover the various approaches to designed research as well as recognize and address the strengths and weaknesses in their own critical thinking and writing skills. To reinforce the concepts covered in the course, students will be asked to produce assignments essential to successful research projects as well as written pieces designed to demonstrate knowledge of topics and proficiency in writing skills. Topics vary. MPPA and MPPA distance learning program core course. Required for students admitted fall 2007 and after.
Winter 2010
M
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Sec. 55
1/4/10 - 3/15/10
Instructor:
MPPA 411-DL
( Elective ) The Legislative Process
Examines the organization of legislatures that make public policy; specifically, how a bill on Capitol Hill becomes the law of the land. Topics include House and Senate procedure, parliamentary maneuvers, committees, structural issues, information issues, re-election concerns, and partisanship. Required core course in the distance learning program. Counts toward all MPPA specializations in the on-campus program.
Writing policy is one thing. Executing it is quite another challenge. The purpose of this course is to provide students an opportunity to explore the essential world of policy implementation against the back-drop of topical, significant events that may be classified as policy execution successes, or failures. Students engage in a literature supported case-study examination of the broad historical, legal, political, and administrative complexities of policy implementation, i.e., public administration. Core course in the MPPA distance learning program.
Summer 2010
Th
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Sec. 55
6/24/10 - 8/19/10
Instructor:
MPPA 452-DL
( Other ) The Global City
Why do cities persist? The last decade has seen a resurgence in the economies of some major cities -- especially the global cities of this course's title -- while other post-industrial cities continue a long decline. Cities are now being transformed by the information revolution much as cities were transformed by the industrial revolution two centuries ago. In this course, students will develop an understanding of urbanization, including how city form differs depending on when a city experiences its greatest growth, and how globalization produces increasing disparity (in many ways) between rich and poor. The course will cover concepts in economic geography, transportation, environment, governance, development, poverty and inequality, and limits to growth. Readings will include recent studies on the effect of globalization on cities, including Saskia Sassen's Cities in a World Economy. Part of the MPPA Urban Policy and Public Policy specializations for on-campus students. Core course for the MPPA distance learning program.
Summer 2010
M
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Sec. 55
6/21/10 - 8/23/10
Instructor:
MPPA 481-DL
( Core Course ) Foundations of Leadership
This course provides advanced theoretical perspectives on public leadership and the application of theories to work experience. Students develop leadership tools necessary to influence policy decisions, encourage collaboration, and build coalitions; explore strategies for building and sustaining partnerships; learn strategic practices for leading and managing change; strengthen the capacity to lead in a diverse society; and think critically about the moral responsibilities and ethical dilemmas of public leadership. This section is for MPPA distance learning program students only--on-campus MPPA students register for LEADERS 481-0.
