Policy Process and Negotiation

Instructors

MATSUURA Masahiro／SHIROYAMA Hideaki

Term / Language / Credits

A1A2 / English / 2

Objectives

This course provides an introductory overview of theory on public policy processes and negotiation.

Its first part cultivate essential understanding of policy processes. It starts with an overview of canonical theories on policy processes, such as incrementalism, agenda setting, implementation, and bureaucracy. In each class we will also discuss about the variety of policy process depending on the cultural and institutional contexts and the role of knowledge in the policy process. This course will cover recent trends, such as policy transfer and new public management, as well. In order to put these theories in a context, the course will discuss policy-making processes, such as bureaucracy and recent reforms, in Japan as well from comparative perspective. This segment of the course is structured around pre-class readings and in-class discussions. Students are asked to present a synthesized summary of their assigned readings in the class.

The latter half of the course will provide a theoretical understanding of negotiation processes and its application to policy-making processes. It starts with an overview of negotiation theory as the foundation for the strategic management of stakeholders. Then students are asked to engage in case-based exercises to improve their communication and policy design skills.

Keywords

Policy Process, Policy Analysis, Policy Science, Negotiation, Agenda Setting, Framing, Consensus Building, Deliberative Democracy, Public Participation

政策形成過程,政策過程,政策分析,政策科学,交渉,アジェンダセッティング,フレーミング,合意形成,熟議民主主義,市民参加

Schedule

Teaching Methods

Class participation is crucial. For the first part of this course, each student is asked to review the assigned article/chapter (total number of articles to review per each student depends on the class size) and present its summary in the class. The instructor will facilitate the student discussion so that everyone in the classroom will have the basic theoretical understanding of theories for public policy processes and negotiation. In each class, students will take a short quiz regarding the article discussed in the previous class.

For the second part of the course, the instructor will provide lectures on negotiation theory. Periodically students are asked to engage in simulated role-play negotiation exercise in which they test their theoretical understanding of negotiation.

During the semester, each student is asked to submit two short essays (2 pages) related to course readings. Students, particularly whose first language is not English, are encouraged to develop professional writing skill through these essays. At the end of the semester, students will be asked to submit another short essay (approx. 5 pages) that reflects on actual public policy cases using the literature reviewed in this course.

Grading

Class participation, in-class presentations, two mid-term short essays, mini-quiz, and term paper.

Related Websites

http://www.pp.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/courses/index.htm

Related Resources

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