PA 507 – The Public Policy Process

Overview

Semester: Fall 2025
Schedule: Mondays, 6:00 PM – 8:45 PM
Location: 012 Winston Hall
Instructor: Professor Graham Ambrose
Email: gambros@ncsu.edu
Office Hours: Fridays, 12:00–1:00 PM by appointment
Office: 125 Winston Hall

Course Description

Public policies are the primary instruments with which governments seek to pursue their goals. Governments use public policies to compel behavior, allocate resources, protect citizens’ rights, signal public values, generate revenue, and serve other functions, in line with their objectives. The salience of public policies in public affairs warrants attention to their design, as well as the broader process and contexts in which they are formulated, deliberated, implemented, and evaluated.

This course provides an introduction to fundamentals of the public policy process. Particularly, it focuses on:

1. The stages of the policy process, and activities and outputs related to different stages
2. Types of policies developed and implemented in the policy process
3. Salient features of policy design
4. Policy implementation
5. Identification and analysis of policy phenomena (stasis, change, feedback, collective action)

The course is intended for students who want to participate in shaping policy design and implementation within the public policy process or pursue advanced study of these topics.

Learning Objectives

Students completing this course will be able to:

1. Describe public policy, different types of public policies and their respective goals, and key features of policy design
2. Identify the stages of the policy process, and key activities occurring therein
3. Identify contextual and other factors that influence activities and outputs associated with different stages of the policy process;
4. Describe problem, statutory, and non-statutory factors influencing policy implementation and the role of different types of actors in shaping implementation outputs and outcomes
5. Exhibit ability to comprehend and synthesize academic and professional research.

Furthermore, this course has been developed to offer you training in critical skills needed in the field of public administration. More specifically, according to the alumni of NCSU’s MPA, the following skills are the most important – in order – when entering the workforce:

1. Critical Thinking
2. Write short documents
3. Stakeholder engagement
4. Teamwork
5. General research
6. Project management

As such, these skills have been built into the class design.

Course Materials

Required Texts:

• Birkland, Thomas A. (2020). An Introduction to the Policy Process: Theories, Concepts, and Models of Public Policy Making (5th Edition). Routledge Press.

Optional (Digital versions of chapters are on Moodle):

• Cairney, P. (2019). Understanding public policy: Theories and issues (Vol. 2). Bloomsbury Publishing.
• Sandfort, J., & Moulton, S. (2014). Effective implementation in practice: Integrating public policy and management. John Wiley & Sons.

Assessments

Policy Design Exercises (4 exercises)

1. Team Evaluation Rubric (10 points)

• Skills: Teamwork; Project Management
• Description: Once teams are identified, each team will be asked to develop a rubric that identifies their expectations for the team. This can be as detailed as the team desires, but it should serve as an outline for expectations as well as a broad workplan identifying responsibilities. At the end of the semester teams will use this rubric for self and peer evaluations, which will be attributed to final participation grades.

2. Policy Context (15 points)

• Skills: General Research; Critical Thinking
• Description: Before engaging with stakeholders, teams will be asked to do their own background and general research on a topic of their choosing. This research should identify reputable sources of information that help the student identify key contextual and implementation factors of the policy or program.

3. Evaluation and Investigation of Implementation Challenges (25 points)

• Skills: Stakeholder Engagement; Critical Thinking
• Description: Teams will be asked to develop an interview protocol designed to investigate the key factors identified in Exercise #2. After the interview protocol has been approved by Dr. Ambrose, teams will be asked to identify and interview an individual that is actively working in or familiar with the policy or program being explored. The interview is meant to fill gaps in the students’ understanding, as well as identify critical challenges that can be addressed in the project.

4. Identification of Public Interest and Agenda Setting (25 points)

• Skills: Stakeholder Engagement; Critical Thinking
• Description: Teams will be asked to develop a short survey aimed at exploring the “public’s” interest in specific design solutions attached to the challenges identified in Exercise #3. After the survey has been approved by Dr. Ambrose, teams are expected to survey their networks to produce 50 responses that can be analyzed for class.

Policy Design Memos (3 memos)

For the reflection papers, teams will be asked to apply course concepts to analyze real-world policy issues and communicate the results of the policy design exercises. These assignments are designed to test students’ ability to understand and critically evaluate the reading, lecture, and discussion material covered during the semester. Write short documents is the second most identified skill – thus, these products are meant to be practice for the real world. They should be well written with a specific audience in mind. While more information can be found on the course Moodle page, brief discussions for each 2-page memo are identified below.

1. Policy Context (25 points)

• Description: Given their policy or program of interest, students will be asked to identify the key aspects of the case including:
  1. the key aspects of the policy or program
  2. the historical context leading to its adoption/current version,
  3. pros and cons reflecting the current debate, and
  4. key actors/groups that support or oppose the policy or program.

2. Evaluation and Investigation of Implementation Challenges (25 points)

• Description: Once their interview is completed, teams will work to code and summarize the key themes of the discussion. This coding will be based on key concepts from class. These themes will then be converted into a policy memo that highlights the key implementation challenges of the policy or program along the identified concepts from class.

3. Identification of Public Interest and Agenda Setting (25 points)

• Description: Once 50 survey responses are received, teams will be asked to conduct basic statistics and data visualizations based on the results. These results will then be converted into a policy memo that highlights the key implications and learning from the survey.

Final Group Presentations

The final Group Presentations will be given during the final exam period. Each group should prepare a power-point presentation that works through each of the above results cohesively. The power-point presentations should be no longer than 10 minutes.

Late Assignments

Late work will be docked 2 points per 24-hour period. Each assignment will be posted on Moodle and should be submitted on Moodle. A late assignment submission may be negotiated between the student and the instructor on an as-needed basis in response to students’ professional or personal circumstances.

Grading

Students can earn a total of 200 points in this course. The percentage of points earned by students will be used to calculate their course grades. The following grade scale will be used. 94–100 = A; 90–93 = A-; 87–89 = B+; 84–86 = B; 80–83 = B-; 77–79 = C+; 74–76 = C; 70–73 = C-; Below C- = Failing

I reserve the right to make changes to the weekly discussion, reading schedule and course syllabus to meet the learning needs of the students and to accommodate other professional expectations which may include research activities, professional conferences and unplanned obligations. Thank you very much for your understanding and cooperation.

Course Schedule

Schedule of classes and assignments is subject to change. In the event of any change in assignment, topic or due date, I will post announcements on Moodle and upload a corrected syllabus.

NO CLASS 9/2 – LABOR DAY

NO CLASS 10/13 – FALL BREAK

FINAL – Group Presentations: 12/9 7:00pm
Self and Peer Evaluation Due

Course Policies

Assignment Submittal Guidelines

Any written work except for in-class exams is expected to be typed, 12-point standard font (double spaced), on 8.5” x 11” page size with 1” margins. American Psychological Association (APA) 6th edition style, formatting, and references must be used. All work should be uploaded to Moodle. E-mailed work will not be accepted. Late work will be docked 1 point per 24-hour period.

Attendance Policy

Attendance at all sessions, and for the duration of all sessions, is expected. If you miss a class session, you should obtain any notification of change of future assignments or other course material from a class member—not the faculty member.

Course Modifications

The instructor reserves the right to make modifications to the syllabus and course schedule throughout the course, thus the syllabus is not a contract and may be modified at their discretion. Any changes will be announced in class, on Moodle and/or email; it is the responsibility of the student to adhere to these changes.

Note on Class Meeting Time

Should an emergency or unforeseen circumstances arise for the instructor, it may be necessary to cancel a class meeting. Should the faculty member not be able to meet the class at the regularly-scheduled time, the class will be notified via Moodle and/or email, with as much advance notice as is possible. Alternative online activities or class sessions will be provided within 24 hours of the cancellation to provide content and activities as originally planned for the class meeting. Be sure to check announcements and/or Moodle email on the days of class.

Download Full Syllabus

📄 PA 507 – Fall 2025 Syllabus (PDF)

Last Updated: October 2025