Political Science (POLI) 400

Overview

POLI 400: Governance and Leadership is a three-credit, senior-level course. It provides an overview and theoretical understanding of the common elements and differences that shape leadership in the public, voluntary, and private sectors and the implications of these similarities and differences for the interaction among the three sectors on public policy issues. You will have an opportunity to learn about the basic ideas and debates concerning the nature of leadership in each sector and how institutions and processes of management and governance in each sector shape the development of its leaders and their role.

From this basic foundation, you will proceed to examine the interaction of ideas of leadership and of the leaders themselves in the three sectors. These interactions will be studied in the context of the governance paradigm, a view of the world in which the public sector is increasingly entangled with the private and voluntary sectors. This occurs as pressures increase for governments to engage with other sectors and with citizens, shrink the scope and nature of their activities, and to undertake their responsibilities using a wider range of tools for policy development and implementation. Some of the key themes and topics that will be explored throughout the course include:

• different types of leadership
• the challenges of leadership, including long-standing challenges and those arising with the emergence of the governance paradigm
• the way sector-specific paradigms of leadership shape leaders in that sector while also shaping expectations of their interaction with leaders in the other sectors
• the role of institutions in shaping leaders and their ideas of governance and their interactions with one another in the context of the governance paradigm
• the way leaders from different sectors perceive their roles and relationships to citizens in the course of public policy debates
• the similarities and differences that emerge during the study of cases of public policy making and implementation in the role(s) of and interaction(s) between leaders in the three sectors and in the relationship of leaders to interest groups and to citizens
• implications of all of the above for public leadership, for institutions, and for the practice of public governance

Outline

Part I: Foundations

• Unit 1:The Theoretical Basis

Part II: The Sectoral Dimensions of Leadership

• Unit 2: Leadership in the Public Sector
• Unit 3: Leadership in the Voluntary Sector
• Unit 4: Leadership in the Private Sector

Part III: Leadership in Practice

• Unit 5: “Governance” as New Public Management: Implications for Leadership and Leaders
• Unit 6: The Governance Paradigm in Action to Bring about Policy Change
• Unit 7: Case Study: Sectoral Convergence and Divergence Over Global Financial Crisis
• Unit 8: New Governance and Leadership: Where are the People?
• Unit 9: Leadership and Governance and the Impact of Globalization and Internationalization

Part IV: Conclusion

• Unit 10: Who Governs and Who Leads: Future Challenges

Evaluation

Your final grade in POLI 400 will be based on the grades you achieve on the assignments and final examination. To receive credit for the course you must complete all of the assignments, achieve a minimum mark of 50 percent on your final examination, and obtain an overall course composite grade of “D” (50 percent) or better. The following indicates the assignments for credit and their weighting toward your final grade.

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.

Challenge for Credit Course Overview

The Challenge for Credit process allows students to demonstrate that they 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 for the Challenge for Credit can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar.

• Undergraduate Challenge for Credit Policy
• Undergraduate Challenge for Credit Procedures

Challenge Evaluation

To receive credit for the POLI 400 challenge registration, you must complete all required components, and achieve an overall grade of at least “D” (50 percent).

Undergraduate Challenge for Credit Course Registration Form

• Challenge for Credit Form