PAD 520 Complete Course  (New)

PAD 520 Complete Course,

week 1 discussion 1

“The Process of Analysis ? Diagrams and Trees” Please respond to the following:

• From the case study, Case 1.3, compare and contrast the benefits of the influence diagram and decision tree displayed in Figure C1.3. Explain why these two problem representations are good examples of descriptive and normative decision theory.
• Refer to your first discussion’s answer and analyze the differences between monitoring and evaluation in policy analysis. Provide at least one example to support your response.

week 1 Discussion 2

“The Process of Analysis ? Critical Thinking” Please respond to the following:

• From the case studies, Case 1.1 and Case 1.2, discuss the strengths and limitations of using multiple triangulation, also called critical multiplism. Provide at least one example to support your answer.
• Propose two reasons argumentation mapping can help a policy maker become a critical thinker. Provide at least two examples to support your response.

week 2 Discussion 1

Developing Policy Arguments and Debate” Please respond to the following:

• Develop a policy argument or claim that is definitive, designative, evaluative, and advocative, using one of these terms: (a) crime, (b) pollution, (c) terrorism, (d) quality of life, (e) global warming, (f) fiscal crisis, (g) human rights, and (h) unemployment.
• Convert the argument in the first discussion into a policy debate by providing an objection and a rebuttal. Explain if and why the qualifier changed after introducing an objection and rebuttal. If the qualifier did not change, explain why it did not change.

week 2 Discussion 2

“Policy Arguments” Please respond to the following:

• From the case study, Case 8.1, use the argument mapping procedures presented in the chapter and provide two pros and two cons (or strengths and weaknesses) of the recommendation that the United States should NOT intervene in the Balkans.
• From the e-Activity, discuss two different modes of argument and examples of formal and informal fallacies. Provide the source(s) of the modes of arguments and fallacies you identified.

week 3

“Policy-Making Process” Please respond to the following:

• Take a position in support of one of the two statements:
• • (a) Policy analysts should research the issues and determine the fundamental causes of social problems such as crime, poverty, or homelessness and then recommend solutions.
  • (b) Policy analysts should develop implementable policies to address social problems such as crime, poverty, or homelessness without research to determine the cause(s). Support your position with examples or evidence.
• From the case study, Case 2.1, debate two pros and two cons of evidence-based policy making, by considering the concepts of “ technocratic guidance” and “technocratic counsel.”

week 3 Discussion 2

Analysis in Practice” Please respond to the following:

• From the e-Activity, provide two reasons and / or examples of what makes the paper or report you selected of high technical quality. Provide the source(s) of the article you selected.
• From the e-Activity, provide two examples from the same article that illustrate how the analysis changes the status quo.

WEEK 4 Discussion 1

“Structuring the Problem” Please respond to the following:

• Examine Box 3.0 – Conducting a Stakeholder Analysis. Choose one (1) policy issue in the U.S. and generate a list of at least five (5) stakeholders who affect or are affected by problems in the issue area. Next, apply the procedures for a stakeholder analysis. Note: Refer to page 111 in the text for a step-by-step process.
• From the e-Activity, provide at least two examples from the article and from your own experience of ways that worldviews, ideologies, and popular myths may have shaped the formulation of a specific problem or issue. Provide the source(s) of the paper or report you selected.

WEEK 4 Discussion 2

“Models and Structuring” Please respond to the following:

• Review Question 6 and select one of the ill-structured problems taken from the journal Policy Analysis (now the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management Under the title “Department of Unintended Consequences”. Analyze the problem; then, provide an example on how classification analysis, hierarchy analysis, and synectics might be used to structure the problem you selected. Identify the problem you selected in your discussion with one of the following key phrases: (a) Egyptian agriculture, (b) ecologists and field mice, (c) San Francisco’s North Beach parking.
• From the case study, Case 3.1, analyze the problem; then, provide two key differences in data collection represented by the process of group interviewing and content analysis. Take a position on which data collection method is better. Provide at least two reasons for your position.

WEEK 5 Discussion 1

“Approaches to Forecasting Policy Outcomes” Please respond to the following:

• Explain at least two ways institutional, temporal, and historical contexts of forecasts affect their accuracy.
• Describe a real or hypothetical situation that requires someone to make a policy decision. Then, select one of the three approaches to forecasting to apply: extrapolative, theoretical, or judgmental. Provide at least two reasons for your selection of the forecasting approach.

WEEK 5 Discussion 2

“Types of Forecasting” Please respond to the following:

• Debate It: Take a position for or against this statement: It is better to be approximately right than exactly wrong. Provide at least two reasons and one hypothetical example to support your position.
• From the case study, Case 4.2, and Box 4.1, analyze the history of MARTA and data receipts. Then, recommend an equitable policy for the generation of sufficient revenue to maintain and expand the system. Provide at least two reasons to support your proposal. Hypothesize at least two objections to the policy.

WEEK 6 Discussion 1

“Prescribing Preferred Policies” Please respond to the following:

• Explain two of the six criteria for policy prescription, (a) effectiveness, (b) efficiency, (c) adequacy, (d) equity, (e) responsiveness, and (f) appropriateness. Then, describe a real or hypothetical public policy issue and select which of the two criteria you believe would be the most beneficial to use in deciding a policy. Provide at least two reasons for your selection.
• Debate It: Take a position for or against the following statement: Rational choice is not possible. Discuss how different types of rationality are related to different criteria for prescription. Provide at least two reasons and two examples to support your response.

WEEK 6 Discussion 2

“Saving Lives by Prescribing Policies” Please respond to the following:

• From the case studies, Case 1.1 and Case 5.1, explain two of the major issues. Then, analyze the assumptions that govern safe driving and discuss whether some assumptions are more reasonable than others. Support your position with at least two reasons and one example.
• From the case studies, Case 1.1 and Case 5.1, recommend the best ways to estimate the value of time and the cost of a gallon of gasoline. Support your position with at least two reasons and one example.

WEEK 7 Discussion 1

“Monitoring Observed Policy Outcomes” Please respond to the following:

• Discuss the relationship between ill-structured problems and approaches to monitoring. Then, describe a real or hypothetical problem and recommend at least one effective way to monitor the policy outcomes. Support your position.
• Use at least two threats to validity and develop a rebuttal to two of the following statements: (a) The greater the cost of an alternative, the less likely it is that the alternative will be pursued. (b) The enforcement of the maximum speed limit of 55 mph increases the costs of exceeding the speed limit. (c) The mileage death rate fell from 4.3 to 3.6 deaths per 100 million miles after the implementation of the 55-mph speed limit. (Refer to Figure 6.13 before responding.)

WEEK 7 Discussion 2

“Monitoring through Experimentation” Please respond to the following:

• Assume you are the program chair of an employment program for students who did not graduate high school but earned a GED (Government Equivalency Degree). You have limited resources and want to determine the factors that ensure students succeed in their jobs. Explain to the program director how the “tiebreaking” experiment might allow the program to uncover that information.
• Develop a hypothetical example, not described in the textbook, that illustrates how and why to apply regression-discontinuity analysis. Discuss how the analysis helps to answer pertinent questions about the example.

WEEK 8 Discussion 1

“Evaluating Policy Performance” Please respond to the following:

• Compare and contrast methods of evaluation and prescription in terms of time and the types of claims produced by each. Provide examples to support your response.
• Assume you are a program director who must propose an effective evaluation of your program’s performance. Compare and contrast formative and summative evaluation, and determine which one will provide performance information that would be most useful to policy makers. Provide reasons and at least one example to support your response.

WEEK 8 Discussion 2

“Moral Judgment and Living Wage” Please respond to the following:

• From the e-Activity, select two different states and locations (city or county) to compare the living wage estimates and poverty wage for a family with one adult and one child designated for the two states and selected locations. Make sure to find two states that have more than $2.00 difference in living wage estimates. Suggest at least two reasons for the differences.
• From the case study, Case 7.1., explain at least two reasons many consider the adoption of a living wage a moral and ethical issue. Discuss the implications that morality and ethics have to analyzing and developing public policy.

WEEK 9 Discussion 1

“Communicating Policy Analysis” Please respond to the following:

• Assume you are a candidate for a director of communications for a major metropolitan county. The job will require you to communicate to the public about public policy regarding transportation, environmental issues, education, taxes, as well as economic development. Explain at least three reasons and ways written and oral communication are important, and should be used to ensure public policy analyses are promoted and accepted by the general public.
• Use the same scenario to explain at least two ways you would ensure public policy analyses are read and accepted by key stakeholders. Provide two reasons and an example to support your response.

WEEK 9 Discussion 2

“Translating Policy Arguments” Please respond to the following:

• Explain at least two key factors policy makers use when evaluating and using information provided to them in policy reports. Explain why it is important for an analyst to know how policy makers evaluate and use information.
• From the case study, Case 9:1, highlight two key components a structured written narrative for a policy issue paper or policy memo. Then propose at least two benefits of developing a policy argument in this way. Provide an example to support your response.

WEEK 10 Discussion Question 1

“Planning Oral Briefings” Please respond to the following:

• Assume the governor has asked you to present an oral briefing on a controversial environmental program to a board of commissioners of a major county in the state. Three of the nine commissioners oppose the program and have experts on their staff who generally accompany them to meetings. Recommend three actions to take before the briefing and two key actions as you present the recommendation. Provide reasons to support your response.
• Discuss at least two possible advantages and two possible disadvantages to using graphics and charts in oral briefings. Discuss the implications of these advantages and disadvantages to the one responsible for communicating public policy. Provide an example to support your response.

WEEK 10 Discussion Question 2

“White House Briefings” Please respond to the following:

• From the e-Activity, summarize your first briefing. Based on your response to Discussion 1, discuss whether your recommendations were notable. Provide two to three examples to support your response.
• From the e-Activity, compare and contrast the issues discussed in two briefings you selected. Take a position on which oral briefing closely matches your preferred style of communicating policy. Provide reasons to support your response.

WEEK 11 Discussion Question 1

“Process of Analysis and Structuring Arguments” Please respond to the following:

• Discuss at least two benefits to structuring arguments before and while developing written documents.
• Highlight at least two concepts or skills of public policy analysis you learned in this class and that you believe you can apply in your current or future career.

WEEK 11 Discussion Question 2

“Challenges” Please respond to the following:

• Discuss at least two major challenges you believe public policy analysts face in today’s political environment and propose at least one way to deal with each challenge.
• Discuss at least two major challenges you believe public policy analysts will face in the next 10 to 20 years and propose at least one way to deal with each challenge.

ASSIGNMENTS

Assignment 1: Argument Mapping
Due Week 3 and worth 150 points

Write a four to five (4-5) page paper in which you:
(Note: Refer to Demonstration Exercise 3 located at the end of Chapter 1 for criteria 1-3.)

1. Create an argument map based on the influence diagram presented in Case 1.3 and complete all the criteria provided in the exercise, beginning with this claim: “The U.S. should return to the 55- mph speed limit in order to conserve fuel and save lives.”
2. Include in the map as many warrants, backings, objections, and rebuttals as possible.
3. Assume that the original qualifier was certainly; indicate whether the qualifier changes as we move from a simple, static, uncontested argument to a complex, dynamic and contested argument.

(Note: Refer to Demonstration Exercise 3 located at the end of Chapter 8 for criterion 4.)

1. Apply the argument mapping procedures presented in Chapter 8 to analyze the pros and cons (or strengths and weaknesses) of the recommendations that the United States should not intervene in the Balkans.

(Note: Refer to Demonstration Exercise 4 located at the end of Chapter 8 for criteria 5-7.)

1. Write a one (1) page analysis that uses critical thinking to assess the overall plausibility of the claim: “The conflict in Bosnia is somebody else’s trouble. The U.S. should not intervene militarily.”
2. Complete an argument map to illustrate your analysis.
3. Include at least two (2) peer-reviewed references (no more than five [5] years old) from material outside the textbook to support your views regarding the proposed U.S. response to the conflict in Bosnia. Note: Appropriate peer-reviewed references include scholarly articles and governmental Websites. Do not use open source Websites such as Wikipedia, Sparknotes.com, Ask.com, and similar Websites are not acceptable resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
• Use Microsoft Word, Microsoft Draw, PowerPoint, or other graphics program to create the arguments maps for the assignment. Whichever program you use, the graphical maps must be integrated into the Word Document and labeled as a Figure with a number and title. The argument maps are part of the page length.

Assignment 2: Stakeholder Analysis
Due Week 5 and worth 150 points

Write a five to six (5-6) page paper in which you:
(Note: Refer to Review Question 8 located at the end of Chapter 3 for criteria 1-3. Select two (2) editorials / essays / columns (by staff or freelance writers) on a current issue of public policy from two (2) different publications (large metropolitan or national newspaper such asWashington Post or the New York Times or national magazines such as Newsweek, Time, and The New Republic.)

1. Apply the procedures for argumentation analysis (located in Chapter 8) to display contending positions and underlying assumptions for the content of Review Question 8.
2. Rate the assumptions and plot them according to their plausibility and importance. (Refer to Figure 3.16, “Distribution of warrant by plausibility and importance.”)
3. Determine which arguments are the most plausible. Provide a rationale for your views.

(Note: Refer to Demonstration Exercise 1 located at the end of Chapter 3 for criteria 4-6. Examine Box 3.0 – Conducting a Stakeholder Analysis. Choose one of the following policy issues in the U.S. gun control, illegal drugs, medical insurance fraud, and environmental protection of waterways, job creation, affordable health care, or Medicare.)

1. Apply the procedures for stakeholder analysis presented in Box 3.0 “Conducting a Stakeholder Analysis” to generate a list of at least five to ten (5-10) stakeholders who affect or are affected by problems in the issue area chosen for analysis. (Note: Refer to page 111 of the textbook for a step-by-step process on stakeholder analysis.)
2. After creating a cumulative frequency distribution from the list, discuss new ideas generated by each stakeholder. (Note: The ideas may be objectives, alternatives, outcomes causes, etc.; ideas should not be duplicates.)
3. Write an analysis of the results of the frequency distribution that answers the following questions: (a) Does the line graph flatten out? (b) If so, after how many stakeholders? (c) What conclusions can be drawn about the policy problems in the issue area? (Note: Compare your work with Case Study 3.1 at the end of the chapter.)
4. Include at least two (2) peer-reviewed references (no more than five [5] years old) from material outside the textbook to support your views regarding the proposed U.S. response to the conflict in Bosnia. Note: Appropriate peer-reviewed references include scholarly articles and governmental Websites. Do not use open source Websites such as Wikipedia, Sparknotes.com, Ask.com, and similar Websites are not acceptable resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

Assignment 3: Prescribing Policies
Due Week 7 and worth 170 points

Write five to six (5-6) page paper in which you:

(Note: Refer to Review Question 8 located at the end of Chapter 5 for criteria 1-3.)

1. Determine the following before deciding a prescription: (a) maximize effectiveness at the least cost; (b) maximize effectiveness at a fixed cost of $10,000; (c) achieve a fixed-effectiveness level of 6,000 units of service at a fixed cost of $20,000; (d) maximize net benefits, assuming that each unit of service has a market price of $10; (e) maximize the ration of benefits to costs, assuming that each unit of service has a market price of $10.
2. Determine which of the two main programs (Program I and Program II) should be selected under each of these criteria. Justify your position.
3. Describe the conditions under which each criterion may be an adequate measure of the achievement of objectives.

(Note: Refer to the Demonstration Exercise at the end of Chapter 5 for criteria 4-9.)

1. Determine the assumptions that govern estimates of the value of time lost driving, indicating which assumptions (if any) are more tenable than others. Justify your position.
2. Determine the best way to estimate the value of time. Justify your position.
3. Determine the best way to estimate the cost of a gallon of gasoline. Justify your position.
4. Determine the more reliable method to estimate driving speeds and miles per gallon by using (a) official statistics on highway traffic from the Environmental Protection Agency or by using (b) engineering studies of the efficiency of gasoline engines by the Department of Energy. Discuss any consequences of using one source rather than another. Justify your position.
5. Estimate the value of a life saved. Justify your position.
6. Determine which policy is preferable, (a) the 55-mph speed limit or (b) the 65-mph limit. Justify your position.
7. Include at least two (2) peer-reviewed references (no more than five [5] years old) from material outside the textbook to support your views regarding the proposed U.S. response to the conflict in Bosnia. Note: Appropriate peer-reviewed references include scholarly articles and governmental Websites. Do not use open source Websites such as Wikipedia, Sparknotes.com, Ask.com, and similar Websites are not acceptable resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

Assignment 4: Policy Outcomes
Due Week 8 and worth 110 points
Write a five to six (5-6) page paper in which you:

(Note: Refer to Chapter 6 Review Question 4 for criterion 1.)

1. Construct constitutive and operational definitions for any three (3) of the actions and outcome variables listed in the shaded box under Review Question 1 at the end of Chapter 6. (Note: The box includes Program expenditure, Equality of educational opportunity, Energy consumption, etc.)

(Note: Refer to Chapter 6 Review Question 5 for criterion 2.)

1. Identify three (3) policy problems listed in the shaded box under Review Question 5 and determine an appropriate indicator or index that would help determine whether each of the identified problems are being solved through government action. Justify your position on each. (Note: The box includes Work alienation, School dropouts, Poverty, etc.)

(Note: Refer to Chapter 6 Review Question 13 for criterion 3.)

1. Construct valid rebuttals to the following argument using at least four (4) threats to validity: (B) The greater the cost of an alternative, the less likely it is that the alternative will be pursued. (W) The enforcement of the maximum speed limit of 55 mph increases the costs of exceeding the speed limit.(I) The mileage death rate fell from 4.3 to 3.6 deaths per 100 million miles after the implementation of the 55-mph speed limit. (C) The 55-mph speed limit (National Speed Law of 1973) has been definitely successful in saving lives.
2. Include at least two (2) peer-reviewed references (no more than five [5] years old) from material outside the textbook to support your views regarding the proposed U.S. response to the conflict in Bosnia. Note: Appropriate peer-reviewed references include scholarly articles and governmental Websites. Do not use open source Websites such as Wikipedia, Sparknotes.com, Ask.com, and similar Websites are not acceptable resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.