Gov. 4903 Fall 2008 Description

Gov 4903 – Special Topics: Issues in Public Administration: Fall 2008

The course is organized around three current public administration topics:

• Women in Public Administration;
• Public Administration and the Presidential Election;
• Rebuilding Iraq: The Role of Public Administration.

After an initial review of selected public administration concepts (bureaucracy, federalism, public policy, leadership, governance, etc.), the course will then examine the three topics through various perspectives lenses of public administration.

The course is taught fully online with no face to face meetings, however, the course is designed to encourage interaction among students and with the instructor.

As a special topics course in public administration, this course will provide an opportunity for integrated learning about current policy issues. You must be familiar with the basic institutions and processes of American government in order to succeed in the course. You can gain this knowledge through a basic survey course on American government, in addition to a course on American public administration, which you should complete before attempting this course.

The course assumes that you have a fundamental understanding of the Constitution, as well as the operation of federal, state, and local government in the United States. As an upper level course, it also assumes you can work with classmates on team projects, possess research and reference skills, have an active knowledge of current events in public policy, and can communicate effectively in writing.

Course Goals
1. Understand and apply basic theories of public administration to the public policy issues related to the topic.
2. Develop and answer key questions for the policy area.
3. Integrate existing public administration scholarship with current public policy issues.
4. Develop resource materials that support further research and study related to the topic.
5. Students will be able to summarize and critique various perspectives on the selected topics.
6. Students will be able to summarize issues and policies pertaining to the selected issues.
7. Students will be able to summarize pertinent historical information related to the selected issues.