POLS 071. Negotiating the U.S. Policyscape (AP)


Americans are reputed to show particular disfavor toward government compared to our counterparts in other developed democracies. And yet, there are over 93 thousand governmental entities with jurisdiction over 330 million Americans. The federal government alone spends between 4 and 6 trillion dollars every year to execute over 30 thousand statutes (in addition to hundreds of thousands of administrative regulations and court orders). This enormous scale of government not only belies the myth of a libertine America, but it suggests Americans actually cannot get enough government. What gives? To understand this conundrum-and more broadly the contours of American politics-one must understand the role of public policy. How are policies made? What are the effects of policy? What factors contribute to policy success or failure? How do policy design and issues with implementation contribute to public sentiment? We often think about the need for new policies to solve our problems, but give less attention to the role existing policies continue to play in our lives. In the course, we will analyze public policy through a political science lens, utilizing the concepts of path dependency, layering, drift, conversion, policy feedback, and unforeseen externalities to better understand the American policyscape. We will conclude by assessing whether America is governable in the year 2022.
Social sciences.
1 credit.
Catalog chapter: Political Science  
Department website: http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science


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