Public Policy Analysis

Teacher(s)

Aubin David ;

Language

Français

Main themes

The course presents the theoretical foundations of the analysis of public policies and provides a frame for prac-tical analysis. Built on a multidisciplinary approach (sociology, law and political science), this frame of analysis leans on the actor's play, the resources they mobilise and the institutional rules that structure this play. It details the mechanisms of design and decision-taking for each step of the public policy cycle : - the definition of the public problem to be solved ; - the agenda setting ; - the design of the politico-administrative program and the decision-taking process ; - the implementation ; - the evaluation. The presentation of a frame of analysis will rely on the presentation of a current event, localised in Belgium and in other industrialised countries.

Aims

The students will be able to : - decompose any public policy for analytic and strategic ends ; - identify the actors involved and the main issues of a public policy ; - master the different steps of a research (incl. Comparative) in the field of public policies.

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.

Content

A public policy is a set of decisions and of activities taken and conducted by public actors in order to solve a public issue, influencing the behaviour of targeted groups considered as responsible of this issue. The analysis of public policies consists in interpreting politics and the State in the light of " products " of poli-tico-administrative organisations, rather than in function of strategic issues of power, but still taking into ac-count the institutional structures and processes. The analyst is involved in an interpretative process of reconstruction of the States' actions. This course proposes and develops a series of tools of analysis of public policies. It provides a practical method of analysis which synthesizes the empirical and theoretical lessons of the disciplinary field. The method selected allows the analysis of the substantial and institutional analysis of different public policy "products". It will be directly put in practice by the students in their paper.

Other information

Paper (50 %), individual or in group, which consists in the analysis of a public policy, and final written exam (50 %) with open questions. Written material (texts and a book: Peter Knoepfel, Corinne Larrue et Frédéric Varone (éd.) (2006). Analyse et pilotage des politiques publiques. 2e éd. Zurich : Rüegger, 384 pp.)

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