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POLS449 offers an advanced examination of social policy issues from a comparative context. Students will examine a range of "wicked policy problems" (problems that are complex and hard to solve) and governance issues. Students will learn how and why issues are labelled as particularly challenging, analyse a range of responses that have been labelled as successes and failures, and hear from differently situated people in support or opposition of these responses, to understand and gain lessons for future and continuing policy analysts and decision-makers. Over the semester students will engage with key conceptual, methodological, and theoretical challenges that have sparked research seeking to evaluate, explain, and design effective public policy. Importantly, students will engage with critical literature which unpacks assumptions of wicked problem literature and discussions, challenges mainstream policy approaches, and seeks alternative futures.
POLS449 offers an advanced examination of policy issues from a comparative context. Students will examine a range of “wicked policy problems” (problems that are labelled as especially complex and hard to solve) and governance issues, such as institutionalisation, biosecurity, aging populations, and interpersonal violence. Learning how and why issues are labelled as particularly challenging, students will analyse a range of responses that have been deemed as successes and failures and hear from differently situated people in support or opposition of these responses, to understand and gain lessons for future and continuing policy analysts, decision-makers, and community leaders. Over the semester students will engage with key conceptual, methodological, and theoretical challenges that have sparked research seeking to evaluate, explain, and design effective public policy. Further, students will engage with critical literature which unpacks and troubles the language and assumptions of wicked problem literature and discussions, challenges mainstream policy approaches, and seeks alternative futures. Importantly, this course will not only focus on disparity and discusses examples of policy that are embraced by communities as successes. This course is interdisciplinary and students from a range of disciplines outside political science may also find it of interest.
Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:Critically engage with conceptual, methodological, and theoretical challenges in public policy and policy analysis;Master the concepts of complex and wicked problems and dimensions of public policy success and failure;Critically discuss how colonialism is interwoven with policy-making in a comparative context;Develop individual advanced reading, research, writing, and critical thinking skills;Conduct and present independent advanced policy research and analysis; Demonstrate critical thinking through the application of policy tools and concepts during seminar.
Subject to approval by the Head of Department
Students must attend one activity from each section.
Lin Mussell
Reading materials will be available on Learn and at the university library. The following books (with more than one chapter assigned or optional over the semester) will be on course reserves at the central university library:● Public policy writing that matters / by David Chrisinger.● Social policy practice and processes in Aotearoa New Zealand / edited by Graham Hassall and Girol Karacaoglu.● Social justice and public policy: seeking fairness in diverse societies / edited by Gary Craig, Tania Burchardt, and David Gordon.The following books (with more than one chapter assigned or optional over the semester) are available online:● Wicked problems in public policy: understanding and responding to complex challenges / by Brian W. Head. ● Decolonizing methodologies: research and indigenous peoples / by Linda Tuhiwai Smith. ● Successful Public Policy: Lessons from Australia and New Zealand / edited by Joannah Luetjens, Michael Mintrom, and Paul Hart. ● Government and public policy in the Pacific Islands / by Graham Hassall.
Domestic fee $2,169.00
International Postgraduate fees
* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.
Maximum enrolment is 30
For further information see Language, Social and Political Sciences .