PUBADM 650 - Organizations, Social Change, and Public Policy

3 Credit(s)

Description:
Organizations are at the heart of societal governance; they develop, contest, implement, and evaluate public policy. Organizations are also frequent targets of public policy, as sites that generate, reproduce, or sustain social and economic inequality. Some organizations, such as government agencies, are where public policies are enacted. Other organizations, such as community-based nonprofit organizations or advocacy groups, can act as agents of resistance and social change in the policy process. An understanding of organizations, their sources of power, role in governance, and structures and processes, is fundamental for public policy scholars. A wide ranging inter-disciplinary literature has applied organizational theory to the study of a variety of policy arenas. In this course we will read classic statements of organizational theory along with examples from contemporary empirical research that apply the theories. These examples are drawn from an array of disciplines including sociology, political science, and public administration, and cover a variety of policy arenas including education, health, housing, drugs, and the environment.

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