Dr Simon Bastow and Prof Nicholas Barr

This course is compulsory on the Master of Public Policy. This course is not available as an outside option.

This course will introduce students to the application of social science literatures to concrete policy issues with significance for developed and developing countries. The course is structured around two complementary Parts:



a) Eleven weeks of ‘taught curriculum’ through the Winter Term (Part A)

b) Supervised small-group policy projects through the Winter and Spring Terms (Part B)



The taught curriculum (Part A) will be organised around ‘big topics’ which are both actively discussed and ‘current’ in the policy world and researched in the academic world. The emphasis will be on applying different theoretical and disciplinary approaches to analyse a particular policy topic and problem. The precise topics will be decided each year, depending on academic and practitioner availability. We aim to attract speakers who are working at the highest levels of research and practice. The course explores these big topics specifically as ‘craft of government’ challenges, with emphasis on the integration of economics, political science, public management, philosophy and the practicalities of implementation. It offers MPP students an opportunity to enrich and integrate their learning from the core disciplines of the programme.



The course also includes supervised small-group projects (Part B) that challenge students to work collaboratively on a current policy problem. Each project has a supervisor and is curated in advance with the support of an external sponsor organisation, and students are able to select a project of interest and relevance to them. These topics are varied and complement some of the key policy issues and problems covered in the taught curriculum part of the course.

Part A is delivered through a combination of pre-recorded lectures, flipped lectures, and interactive seminars , - totalling a minimum of 35 hours in Winter Term -. There are 11 weeks of teaching in the Winter Term and no Reading Week.



Part B is delivered through regular project tutorials with faculty, and ongoing support and supervision through the Winter and Spring Terms. Office hours will be available for students who would like to discuss the content of the course or their group projects in more detail.

Formative coursework will include:

• For Part A: feedback on student presentations in class, in preparation for the written policy memo. 
• For Part B: ongoing support and tutorials for group policy projects, from setting them up at the beginning of the Winter Term through until the submission of final project deliverables in the Spring Term. Students will work in project groups of no more than 5 people and will meet with course faculty to develop (a) the proposed focus of the project, (b) the proposed research method and approach, (c) identification of relevant existing research and literature, and (d) an outline of the structure of the project. Groups will submit a 2 -page outline and received detailed comments on the outline in the Winter Term.

This will depend on the topics covered week by week.  A full reading list for each week will be provided at the start of the course.

Report (40%), group presentation (20%) and policy memo (40%) in the ST.

• 40% final report

• 20% group project presentation

• 40% written memo based on individual presentations, due in Spring Term