Political Science (POLI) 392

Overview

Political Science 392: Public Policy and Administrative Governance has been designed for senior undergraduate students who are interested in the creation and implementation of Canadian public policy. There are no formal prerequisites for this course. While it is recommended that students have taken another course in political science or public administration, the course material should be accessible to anyone with the intellectual sophistication and academic maturity expected of senior undergraduate students.

Political Science 392 aims to give students the knowledge, analytical skills, and tools necessary to think critically about matters associated with the making and implementation of Canadian public policy. This course will benefit those who have chosen a career in the public service, those who simply wish to increase their awareness of public policy-making and implementation, as well as students with aspirations toward graduate studies.

Learning Outcomes

• Describe the character of public bureaucracy and provide a theoretically informed analysis of the contrast between a classic Weberian bureaucracy and the type of public bureaucracy advocated by the New Public Management (NPM).
• Explain the role of bureaucratic, political, and non-state actors in the policy process.
• Contrast the various policy instruments and service-delivery mechanisms used in policy implementation, and explain the factors shaping the possibility of successful policy implementation.
• Explain the nature of democratic accountability in parliamentary government, and comment on approaches to ensuring ethics in administrative governance.
• Explain the significance of social diversity to the making and implementation of public policy, and discuss the relationship between social diversity and the “differential impact” of public policy.
• Contrast the governing paradigms associated with the administrative welfare state and those of the neo-liberal state, and explain the relationship of the NPM to the neo-liberal mode of governance.

Outline

The course consists of the following eight units.

• Unit 1: Introduction to Public Policy and Administrative Governance
• Unit 2: Public Bureaucracy in Theory and Practice
• Unit 3: Parliament, Bureaucracy, and Accountability in Canada
• Unit 4: Policy Formulation—The Institutions and Processes of Political Governance
• Unit 5: Administrative Governance—The Challenge of Policy Implementation
• Unit 6: Non-State Actors in Policy-Making and Administrative Governance
• Unit 7: Social Diversity and the Question of “Difference“ in Policy-Making and Administrative Governance
• Unit 8: Governance in the 21^st Century

Evaluation

Your final grade in POLI 392 will be based on the marks you achieve on the assignments and the final examination. To receive credit for POLI 392, you must complete all the assignments, achieve a mark of at least D (50 percent) on the final examination, and obtain an overall course grade of at least D (50 percent). The weighting of the assignments and exam toward your final grade are outlined below.

The final examination for this course must be taken online with an AU-approved exam invigilator at an approved invigilation centre. It is your responsibility to ensure your chosen invigilation centre can accommodate online exams. For a list of invigilators who can accommodate online exams, visit the Exam Invigilation Network.

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.

Course Materials

Textbook

Other materials

All other course materials are available online through the course home page. These include a Course Information, Study Guide, and additional readings.

Challenge for Credit Overview

The Challenge for Credit process allows you to demonstrate that you have acquired a command of the general subject matter, knowledge, intellectual and/or other skills that would normally be found in a university-level course.

Full information about Challenge for Credit can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar.

Challenge Evaluation

To receive credit for the POLI 392 challenge registration, you must receive a grade of “pass” on the exam.

Undergraduate Challenge for Credit Course Registration Form

• Challenge for Credit Form