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The making and implementation of public policy is fundamentally political. The people who design laws, who vote on them in legislatures, who negotiate the implementation of them in bureaucracies, who sell them to the public, all operate within political environments which shape their behaviour. Policy analysis cannot be considered purely in terms of programme evaluation and public administration, but rather must also focus on which policies can be implemented in the face of political constraints.

This module introduces key models of the politics that affect policy formation and delivery. Drawing on theories of political economy, the module addresses how specific political institutions shape and constrain the policymaking process. You will study the social dilemmas that are common to many public policy challenges, such as externalities, and collective action and coordination problems; and a series of challenges faced by political actors intending to implement good governance, including features of the political process that affect incentives (such as electoral and legislative institutions), and more fundamental issues that can lead to suboptimal outcomes (such as information problems and commitment problems).

At the end of this course, you should be able to:
1. Identify and characterise social dilemmas in real world policy problems
2. Identify and characterise constraints to policy-making in real world policy processes
3. Propose informed solutions to specific policy challenges

You will learn some of the key analytical skills required for rigorously analysing the politics of public policy, including basic game theory and decision theory. The module has a strongly applied focus, and you will use the models that are covered in the materials to understand key issues in contemporary policymaking.

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