PPOL 516: DOMESTIC VS FOREIGN POLICY & POLITICS
This seminar engages students in a case-based examination of foreign and domestic policy-making in the United States. The purpose is to explore the nature of the policy process across different kinds of issues--including national security policies, domestic policies, and overlapping international/domestic policies (like global warming). The professors will draw on their own experience (along with the experience of occasional guests) to relate theories of policy-making to the real policy and political world. Professors Feder and Gallucci.

 

PPOL 526: SURVEY RESEARCH METHODS
Surveys are the most commonly used data collection tool in the social sciences, providing for efficient collection of data over broad populations, amenable to administration in person, by telephone, and over the Internet. The course teaches state of the art methods for designing, conducting, and interpreting the results of surveys. The emphasis is on the development of practical skills that will be valuable additions to the GPPI student's analytic toolkit. The course integrates perspectives from sociology, economics and cognitive psychology and methodologies commonly applied within policy evaluation, social science and public opinion research settings. Topics include questionnaire development and testing, judging the quality of a survey, the use and misuse of survey methods, sources of bias/error in survey design and analysis, techniques for dealing with limitations in surveys, data collection techniques, coding and data processing, and ethical issues in survey research. For some topics, guest speakers from government and private research and polling firms will provide practical insights. Professor Morrison.

 

PPOL 564: POLITICS AND THE MEDIA
1. This course is designed to look at both the theory and practice of how the press covers politics and public policy, and to a lesser extent, how politicians try to influence that coverage. The reading load is a book a week, ranging from the popular and highly accessible to the more academic and theoretical. It is the hope that by blending both the academic and the practical, students will gain a useful perspective on one of the more interesting and important relationships in the public arena: the interplay between politics, policy and the press. Since this is a seminar, preparation and participation are vital, and the grading regime reflects that emphasis. Critical thinking skills and the ability to analogize from the readings to contemporary events will also be important. If you don't read a daily paper and aren't prepared to discuss current issues affecting politics and the press you don't belong in this class. Finally and most importantly: robust debate will be required, as will a decent respect for the opinions of others. So bring both a thick skin and a civil tongue; both will be necessary. Professor Begala.

2. Few questions are more vexing or inherently controversial than the relationship of the media to politics and policy-making. There is even dispute over what constitutes the media.  This course is organized around particular problems raised in the debate and specific media institutions. Some of the problems given particular attention are the press' coverage of the Bush Administration and the 2004 campaign, the ability of media institutions to police themselves and the role of journalists in political campaigns. Attention will also be paid to media innovations, including the increasing importance of the Web, the rise of talk radio and National Public Radio, and the rise of media polling. Guests with particular expertise and experience have been invited to help lead sessions devoted to their areas of interest. The reading list includes popular and journalistic works including the work of journalists who will meet with the class as well as the work of scholarly analysts. Students will be encouraged to bring their own perspectives to bear, and are strongly urged to add to the reading list and to exchange readings with each other (and their instructor). Students will be required to produce one research paper (20 to 25 pages in length) touching on a problem of their choosing in the area of media and politics.) Students will play a central role in organizing the final session of the course. This session could be devoted to raising issues not touched upon in the course, or to developing themes already addressed in more depth. Professor Dionne.