POLS 006. Great Issues in Public Policy

Cross Listed with ECON 006
Our current political, social, and economic moment has brought a number of crucial public policy questions to center stage. In this course, we seek to engage critically with some of the biggest public policy challenges of our time - including reproductive rights, immigration, artificial intelligence, affordable housing, climate change, global conflict, the future of democracy, and more. The course is based primarily on the fields of economics, political science, and policy analysis, and how theories and frameworks from these fields inform how we might think about and tackle specific issues. Crucially, this course strives to bring a diversity of perspectives to bear on the selected topics (through discussions, readings, guest speakers, etc.), and students should expect their personal views on these issues to be critiqued and challenged. The broader goal of the course is to help students see policy issues in nuanced ways, so we can better understand other points of view, engage in more civil discourse, and more effectively advocate for our preferred policy positions in an increasingly polarized society.
Prerequisite: ECON 001
Social Sciences.
1 Credit.
Spring 2025. Tierney, Bhanot
Catalog chapter: Political Science Economics
Department website: swarthmore.edu/politicalscience

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