POL 3321 is also offered in Fall 2024
POL 3321 is also offered in Spring 2023
POL 3321 is also offered in Spring 2022
Spring 2019 | POL 3321 Section 001: Issues in American Public Policy (55510)
- 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 Session
Tue,
Thu 11:15AM - 12:30PM
UMTC, West Bank
Anderson Hall 330
- Enrollment Status:
Open (115 of 116 seats filled)
- Also Offered:
- Course Catalog Description:
- This course examines the politics of social policy in the United States. Recent controversies over Social Security reform, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (?Obamacare?), and the No Child Left Behind Act and Common Core showcase the profound political and substantive impact of this topic. The first half of the course places the United States in comparative perspective. Scholars typically describe the United States as a ?laggard? where social policies developed relatively late, grew relatively slowly, and are less generous than are corresponding policies in other advanced industrial democracies. Is this an accurate portrayal of American social policy? Recent scholarship challenges the conventional wisdom, suggesting that the United States does not necessarily do less in terms of social policy but that it relies on an unusual set of policy tools to pursue objectives like poverty alleviation. What explains the distinctive shape of American social policy? This course investigates the impact of political culture, the relative power of various interest groups, the American constitutional system, and other factors. The second half of the course examines recent trends in American social policy, focusing on four specific policy areas: pensions, health care, education, and income support. It examines both the historical origins of contemporary American policies and recent reform proposals. A major theme of the course is that it is impossible to understand the contemporary shape of social policy, and the positions of specific stakeholders, without understanding the long-term historical processes that have shaped, and that continue to shape, the present political terrain of preferences and actors. New generations of leaders do not have the opportunity to build social policy from scratch. Rather, they have to react to what already exists. Some reforms will seem like logical extensions of what is already in place, while existing programs might make other alternative
- Class Notes:
- http://classinfo.umn.edu/?ajkarch+POL3321+Spring2019
- Class Description:
- This course examines the politics of social policy in the United States. The first half of the course places the United States in comparative perspective. Scholars often describe the United States as a laggard where social policies developed relatively late, grew relatively slowly, and are less generous than corresponding policies in other advanced industrial democracies. How accurate is this conventional wisdom? In what ways is the American welfare state unusual? How have political culture, interest groups, government institutions, and other factors contributed to the distinctive shape of American social policy? The second half of the course applies the analytical frameworks discussed in the first half of the course to contemporary trends in American social policy. It focuses on four specific policy areas: pensions, health care, education, and income support. In addition to examining the historical origins of existing programs in each of these policy areas, it also looks closely at the political and substantive impact of contemporary reforms like the Affordable Care Act and charter schools.
- Grading:
20% Midterm Exam I
10% Social Security Reform Policy Analysis
10% Health Care Reform Policy Analysis
20% Midterm Exam II
15% Education Policy Memo
25% Final Exam- Exam Format:
- All exams will consist of multiple-choice questions, short identifications, and essay questions.
- Class Format:
75% Lecture
15% Discussion
10% Small Group Activities- Workload:
75-100 pages of reading per week
Three exams
Three papers (2-4 double-spaced pages each)- Textbooks:
- https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/55510/1193
- Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
- 29 April 2015
ClassInfo Links - Spring 2019 Political Science Classes