POL 5030 Comparative Public Policy

Why do nations differ markedly in their approach to policy issues such as social welfare, education, health, national defense, environmental protection, immigration, or the like? This course provides an analytical perspective for understanding these differences across three types of nation state systems: advanced industrial democracies; transitional or Third Wave democracies; and developing authoritarian states. The influence of culture, state and legal systems, party systems, economic elites, social movements, and the international political economy on the evolution and practice of public policies are explored. Students are required to conduct a cross-national study of a particular public policy issue.
Credits: 3.0