Spring 2020 | PA 5012 Section 001: The Politics of Public Affairs (57598)
- Instructor(s)
- Class Component:
- Lecture
- Credits:
- 3 Credits
- Grading Basis:
- Student Option
- Instructor Consent:
- No Special Consent Required
- Instruction Mode:
- In Person Term Based
- Times and Locations:
- Regular Academic Session01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020Mon, Wed 01:00PM - 02:15PMUMTC, West BankHubert H Humphrey Center 184
- Enrollment Status:
- Closed (30 of 30 seats filled)
- Also Offered:
- Course Catalog Description:
- Stages of policy making from agenda setting to implementation. Role and behavior of political institutions, citizens, social movements, and interest groups. Concepts of political philosophy. Theories of state. Team taught, interdisciplinary course. Small discussion sections.
- Class Notes:
- http://classinfo.umn.edu/?jbsoss+PA5012+Spring2020
- Class Description:
- Our challenge in this course is to get serious about questioning and sharpening the political perspectives we bring to bear on our work. All too often, our beliefs about politics are based on little more than civics-book platitudes, cynical clichés, and the commonsense views that prevail in our particular social circle. The purpose of this course is to unsettle such beliefs and invite students to think more critically and systematically about how to approach the political dimensions of their work. If you expect most of your future work to be technical - and therefore, "not political" - I'm especially hopeful that you will find opportunities in this course to question that assumption, as well as the politics that underlie it.
- Learning Objectives:
- This semester, we will work to develop a variety of political perspectives on public policy and public affairs. Toward these ends, we will organize our work around four concepts that guide any well-specified understanding of politics: power, institutions and organizations, discourse, and citizenship. We will ask how these elements of politics may be understood, how they operate in practice, why they matter, how they limit and enable political action, and how they can be engaged and navigated effectively.
- Grading:
- 20% Class participation
80% Major Writing Assignments
- Power (20%)
- Institutions (20%)
- Political Discourse (20%)
- Democratic Citizenship (20%)Your grade will depend, first and foremost, on the ways you engage, explain, critique, and apply ideas from our readings and class discussions. - Class Format:
- Discussion and Lecture
- Textbooks:
- https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/57598/1203
- Past Syllabi:
- http://classinfo.umn.edu/syllabi/jbsoss_PA5012_Spring2019.pdf (Spring 2019)
http://classinfo.umn.edu/syllabi/jbsoss_PA5012_Spring2016.doc (Spring 2016) - Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
- 21 February 2017
Spring 2020 | PA 5012 Section 002: The Politics of Public Affairs (57583)
- Instructor(s)
- Class Component:
- Lecture
- Credits:
- 3 Credits
- Grading Basis:
- Student Option
- Instructor Consent:
- No Special Consent Required
- Instruction Mode:
- In Person Term Based
- Times and Locations:
- Regular Academic Session01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020Tue 06:00PM - 08:45PMUMTC, West BankBlegen Hall 415
- Enrollment Status:
- Open (17 of 30 seats filled)
- Also Offered:
- Course Catalog Description:
- Stages of policy making from agenda setting to implementation. Role and behavior of political institutions, citizens, social movements, and interest groups. Concepts of political philosophy. Theories of state. Team taught, interdisciplinary course. Small discussion sections.
- Class Notes:
- http://classinfo.umn.edu/?hend0402+PA5012+Spring2020
- Class Description:
About the course:
Politics is messy, complex, unpredictable, and sometimes ugly. Yet, many of us want to work in environments that are heavily influenced by politics. So how do we make sense of the political world around us? How do we navigate it? How do we understand the behavior and choices of the political actors around us? How do we make our own choices - whether it's what issues to work on, what solutions to propose, whom to align ourselves with - that lead to desired outcomes?
To understand the politics of public affairs, it can be helpful to understand what motivates people who work in and around politics. Is it party, ideology, public opinion, the laws or the Constitution, personality, or a combination of these factors? During the semester, we will examine these, and other, factors and discuss to what extent they help us understand real-world policy issues and outcomes.
About the instructor:
Henriët grew up in the Netherlands and moved to the United States in 2003 for her graduate studies in political science at the University of Minnesota. She currently works as a research and management consultant within Minnesota state government. Prior to that, Henriët worked for the Minnesota House of Representatives as a non-partisan analyst in the Fiscal Analysis Department. She also held positions as an assistant professor at St. Olaf College (MN) and Susquehanna University (PA), where she taught courses on American politics, campaigns and elections, public opinion, and research methods.
- Grading:
- The course grade will be based on class participation (10%), three short writing assignments (25% each), and a group presentation (15%).
- Class Format:
- Discussion and lecture
- Textbooks:
- https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/57583/1203
- Past Syllabi:
- http://classinfo.umn.edu/syllabi/hend0402_PA5012_Spring2019.pdf (Spring 2019)
- Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
- 7 November 2018
ClassInfo Links - Spring 2020 Public Affairs Classes
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