Mar 29, 2024  
OHIO University Undergraduate Catalog 2023-2024 
    
OHIO University Undergraduate Catalog 2023-2024
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POLS 2000 - American Politics, Policy, and Administration


This course introduces students to American politics, policy, and administration by investigating how public policies are formulated and implemented. Under a conventional view of the politics-administration dichotomy, political factors such as political party and public opinion significantly dominate the entire phase of policy formulation. Governmental bureaucracies are supposed to faithfully implement public policies that political decision makers enact. During recent decades, governmental bureaucracies have been more heavily involved in policy formulation as well as policy implementation. This course surveys the historical and contemporary principles of democracy and bureaucracy. Students consider the ideal relationship among politics, policy, and administration. Students also evaluate the significance of political culture and its effects upon policy formulation and implementation.

Credit Hours: 3
OHIO BRICKS Arch: Connected World
General Education Code (students who entered prior to Fall 2021-22): 2SS
Repeat/Retake Information: May be retaken two times excluding withdrawals, but only last course taken counts.
Lecture/Lab Hours: 3.0 lecture
Grades: Eligible Grades: A-F,WP,WF,WN,FN,AU,I
Course Transferability: OTM course: TMSBS Social & Behavioral Sciences
College Credit Plus: Level 1
Learning Outcomes:
  • Students will be able to summarize and explain major concepts, theories, and practices in American politics, policy, and administration.
  • Students will be able to compare and evaluate the major theories and practices in American politics, policy, and administration based on quantitative or qualitative evidence-based analysis.
  • Students will be able to identify the key principles in American Democracy, make an informed assessment of political and policy processes, note political discourses about different types of policies, and actively participate in the political discourses.
  • Students will be able to identify how diverse political culture affects not only policy formulation and implementation but also its evaluation.
  • Students will be able to produce academically written papers that convey their independent judgment of the major concepts, theories, and practices in American politics, policy, and administration.
  • Students will be able to select specific political or policy agendas, analyze their pros and cons based on scientific evidence, and propose new suggestions to address identified weaknesses associated with the agendas.



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