American Politics, Policy, and Administration: American Civic Literacy

Catalog description

This course introduces students to American politics, policy, and administration by investigating how public policies are formulated and implemented. Under a conventional view of the politics-administration dichotomy, political factors such as political party and public opinion significantly dominate the entire phase of policy formulation. Governmental bureaucracies are supposed to faithfully implement public policies that political decision makers enact. During recent decades, governmental bureaucracies have been more heavily involved in policy formulation as well as policy implementation. This course surveys the historical and contemporary principles of democracy and bureaucracy. Students consider the ideal relationship among politics, policy, and administration. Students also evaluate the significance of political culture and its effects upon policy formulation and implementation.