Home  About  In the News  Publications  Blog  Join  Donate  > Inside Stanford  Stanford News CA high school exit exam op-ed in the SF Chronicle Op-ed on State Textbooks in the Fresno Bee State of the Union in Stanford Daily California Ballot Proposition Op-eds Stanford Progressive on Roosevelt Institution Students at Roosevelt's Summer 2005 Conference in Hyde Park, NY News from the National Office Post-Election Center TI Launched Roosevelt LiveBlogs the Presidential Debate On Campus Midwest Regional Fall Policy Workshop Blum speaks at Vermont Campus Compact conference Coverage of the Johns Hopkins Chapter Launch > More "Progress has brought us both unbounded opportunities and unbridled difficulties. Thus the measure of our civilization will not be that we have done much, but what we have done with that much." — Teddy Roosevelt    Applied Policymaking Syllabus > Roosevelt Home > Stanford > Applied Policy Making Course > Applied Policymaking Syllabus Your name: Your email: Recipient's name: Recipient's email: Message: To prevent spam, please enter the first letter of the recipient's email and the first letter of the recipient's name in the box below (for example, if the name is "John Doe" and the email is "bigjohn@johndoe.com", you would enter "jb"): Applied Policy Making: The Roosevelt Institution The class will meet Tuesdays from 7-8pm for lecture in 60-61G, followed by discussion sections from 8-9pm. Sections will be organized on the first day based on topic interests -- folks who are interested in education will be together, environment, etc. Reading should be done before lecture each week. The core of this course is the preparation and presentation of policy research on the topic of your choice. Your grade will be determined by a combination of your performance on work relevant to your chosen topic and participation in discussion, both in lecture and section. The policy research assignment consists of three parts: a researched policy proposal of 4-7 pages, an op-ed advocating the proposal you've created, and a presentation of the ideas in the research proposal. Presentations will first be made in the sections in week 8 and the best proposals will then present to the entire class in week 9. While it is not a requirement, we recommend that you conceive of a proposal that you'll have the access to implement -- something practical that can be done at the state, city, county, business, or administrative level that would impact the topic area you care about. You are welcome to work individually or in groups; groups will be expected to have done a commensurately increased amount of research. As a grading aide, each individual is expected also to include a one-page document describing the process they undertook to arrive at their proposal -- what sources were consulted, who did what in group projects, etc. The readings represent a relatively light workload that is frontloaded to allow you to work on your independent research. We have tried to select reading that is interesting, current, well-written, and cheap. It's all available online except for Miller and Bardach, which are both paperbacks and are available from the Bookstore. Weeks eight and nine will be presentations of policy proposals. For those weeks, the op-ed and research reports of the groups presenting are the assigned readings. Class members are expected to write a paragraph of constructive comments on each piece, which are included in the participation portion of the grade. Each presentation will be followed by discussion of the proposal, what might be done to improve it, and how to take it to the public policy process. 9/26 - Week 1: Course Introduction Lecture: (I) Introduction to the course -- readings, expectations, etc. (II) Introduction to Roosevelt. (III) Section assignment survey. 10/3 - Week 2: Why Policy? Readings: (looks like a lot, but they’re short and most are available in audio format) Martin Luther King, "I Have A Dream" Principles Project, "A Declaration of Progressive Principles" SDS, The Port Huron Statment (Read only up to and including the section entitled "the society beyond") Roosevelt Institution, "Statement of Principles" Declaration of Independence (first two and last paragraphs) Kennedy, "Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs", 5/25/1961 (sections IX and X only) Kennedy, “Address at Rice University on the Nation’s Space Effort”, 9/12/1962 Johnson, “The Great Society”, 5/22/1964 Reagan, "Tear Down This Wall" speech at Brandenburg Gate 6/12/1987 (through "Tear down this wall" only) Lecture: Overview of the current standard approach to public policy. Policy versus the market. Interest groups. Discussion Sections: (I) What is the purpose of government? (II) What is the role of principles, ideology, and values in government? (III) What principles should guide the policymaker? (IV) How does your topic fit within this framework? 10/10 - Week 3: Policy in Action I Guest Lecture: Working Partnerships USA Readings: Eugene Bardach, A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path to More Effective Problem Solving, p. 1-46 The Rockridge Institute, Excerpt from “Strategic Initiatives” Discussion Sections: (I) What are the main problems in your topic area? (II) What is stopping these problems from being addressed -- is it lack of funding, ideas, political will, or something else? (III) At what level are these problems best addressed -- local, county, state, federal, international, nongovernmentally (NGOs, private sector, civic associations), or some mixture? (IV) What areas can college students have the greatest impact in? 10/17 - Week 4: Policy In Action II Guest lecture: State Senator Jackie Speier Readings: Matt Miller, The 2% Solution, p. 92-113 House Republican Conference, The Contract With America (Introduction and any one of the bill descriptions) City of Portland & Multnomah County, "Local Action Plan on Global Warming", 4/01 (From "Portland Greenhouse Gas Emissions" on p. 4 to p. 30) Discussion Sections: The day will be spent brainstorming new policy ideas from each appropriate discipline and for each level of government or society for how to approach the problems in the topic area. 10/24 - Week 5: Policy In Action III Guest Lecture: US Rep. Zoe Lofgren Readings: Matt Miller, The 2% Solution, p. 114-181 Discussion Sections: Students will give an initial report on their policy research ideas and their progress to date, and get feedback from their peers. 10/31 - Week 6: Framing Policy Readings: George Lakoff, "Framing 101: How to take back the public discourse" Aspen Institute, "U.S. in the World," p. 10-13, 34-43, and 48-51 Discussion Sections: (I) What is the relationship between electoral politics, policy, media advocacy, and organizing? (II) How do Americans think about your topic area? (III) What methods might you use to explain why your area of policy is important and worth shared sacrifice -- in other words, what lessons does framing have for your area? (IV) How might you find out more about this? Where would you look if you wanted to develop a counterpart to the "US in the World" piece for your topic area? 11/7 – Week 7: Roosevelt Writing Workshop Readings: George Lakoff, Thinking Points excerpt, “Twelve Traps to Avoid” 11/14 – Week 8: No Lecture – Work on Policy Research 11/28 – Week 9: Presentations Guest Lecture: State Controller Steve Westly 12/5 – Week 10: Conclusion   The Roosevelt Institution is a nonpartisan, nonprofit national think tank devoted to bringing students' policy ideas to the policy process. The opinions expressed on this site are exclusively those of its members. DC Headquarters: Roosevelt Institution / 2100 M St NW Suite 610 / Washington, DC 20037 || (202) 833-1359