PP450      Half Unit
Public Organisations: Theory and Practice

This information is for the 2023/24 session.

Teacher responsible

Prof Adnan Khan and Prof Timothy Besley

Availability

This course is available on the Double Master of Public Administration (LSE-Columbia), Double Master of Public Administration (LSE-Sciences Po), Double Master of Public Administration (LSE-University of Toronto), MPA Dual Degree (LSE and Hertie), MPA Dual Degree (LSE and NUS), MPA Dual Degree (LSE and Tokyo), MPA in Data Science for Public Policy, MSc in Economic Policy for International Development, Master of Public Administration and Master of Public Policy. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

This course has a limited number of places (it is controlled access) and demand is typically very high. Priority is given to students from the School of Public Policy, students from other programmes will be considered if places remain.

Pre-requisites

Some understanding of economics and quantitative methods is desirable.

Course content

The course will offer students the analytical frameworks and practitioners’ knowhow for understanding public organisations and the challenges in design and implementation of public policies.  Public organisations are key determinants of state capacity and this course will draw primarily on social science, primarily economics  and political economy to understand these. The lectures will take different views of public organisations: a micro, personnel-economics view; an organizational level perspective; and a heterodox approach drawing on the recent literature from several disciplines on identity, values and norms.

The seminars will have an applied focus and will deal with intractable public policy problems and unpack reasons why it is so difficult to design and implement effective public policies. The group work during seminars will use a systematic and structured framework to identify pressing policy problems, diagnose the underlying causes of these problems using evidence, and design, test, implement and refine policy innovations. There will be a lot of emphasis on learning-centric approaches to transforming public organisations and to diagnosing and dealing with the challenges of policy implementation and political authorisation and the skill sets needed to address these challenges.

Teaching

This course is delivered through a combination of lectures and seminars totalling a minimum of 35 hours across Winter Term. 

Formative coursework

Students will be provided regular and weekly feedback on their group work during WT.

Indicative reading

Key readings:

  • Timothy Besley, Robin Burgess, Adnan Khan and Guo Xu. (2021). Bureaucracy and Development. Annual Review of Economics. Forthcoming.
  • Besley, Timothy and Torsten Persson. 2014. “The Causes and Consequences of Development Clusters: State Capacity, Peace and Income”. Annual Review of Economics. Volume 6:927-949.
  • Finan, Frederico, Benjamin Olken, and Rohini Pande. 2015. “The Personnel Economics of the State”, The Handbook of Field Experiments.
  • IGC Evidence Paper. 2019. “State Effectiveness”
  • Cristina Corduneanu-Huc, Alexander Hamilton and Issel Masses Ferrer. 2012. “Understanding Policy Change: How to Apply Political Economy Concepts in Practice.” Washington D.C.: World Bank Publications.
  • Andrews, M., L. Pritchett & M Woolcock. (2017). Building State Capability: Evidence, Analysis, Action. Oxford University Press.
  • Parkhurst, Justin. 2017. “The politics of evidence: from evidence-based policy to the good governance of evidence”. Routledge Studies in Governance and Public Policy.

Assessment

Essay (60%) in the period between WT and ST.
Group assignment (40%) in the WT.

The group assignment (40%) will consist of a presentation and policy brief.

Student performance results

(2019/20 - 2021/22 combined)

Classification % of students
Distinction 25.3
Merit 69
Pass 5.7
Fail 0

Key facts

Department: School of Public Policy

Total students 2022/23: 42

Average class size 2022/23: 14

Controlled access 2022/23: Yes

Lecture capture used 2022/23: Yes (LT)

Value: Half Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

Course selection videos

Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.

Personal development skills

  • Team working
  • Problem solving
  • Application of information skills
  • Communication
  • Application of numeracy skills
  • Specialist skills