Public Policy and Governance Courses

Complex societal problems require good governance and the development of effective public policies - which often entails close collaboration between a wide array of government and non-governmental actors. But how do these actors work together? How do they define problems, develop solutions, implement, and evaluate policies? How are decisions made? This course answers these key questions and introduces students to the major concepts, theories, and skills involved in the study of public policy and governance. 

At the core of public policy analysis is problem solving. It involves the development, assessment, and communication of policy advice, options, and recommendations. This course assesses the approaches, methods, ethics, and politics of public policy analysis. It is a practical course, focused on providing students with the analytical frameworks, tools, and skills required by professional policy analysts, including critical and creative thinking, collaboration, research, and effective communication. Prerequisite: PGOV 101.

This course will introduce the concept of governance and ask students to address questions that often arise from the process of governance such as: What constitutes good governance? How do we keep governing bodies accountable? Who are the stakeholders? How does governance differ in the public, voluntary, and private sectors? How does Indigenous Governance work? What are the risks and benefits of privatization or public-private partnerships? How do we govern without government?  

This course will explore issues in the contemporary Canadian North, with a particular focus on social, political, economic, and environmental issues. Students will be encouraged to critically examine Canada’s Northern strategies and compare these to the social and economic priorities of Arctic leaders and Indigenous peoples living in remote Northern communities.

The course will examine ways in which policies are formulated and implemented in Canada as well as in other democratic systems across the world. The course will also examine policy issues that arise in different governing systems. Policies and governance across different levels and forms of government will be covered in order to give students a detailed account of the evolution and diversity of policy formation and implementation. Students will be required to complete a comparative research assignment. 

An intermediate examination of the structure and practice of government and governance, this course covers local, indigenous, provincial, national and international entities. It seeks to answer how political communities organize themselves for governing, how governing organizations are best managed, how leaders deal with such persistent issues as political power and bureaucracy, accountability, participation and citizen rights, and financial and other resources. 

As a foundational course in the theory and practice of policy research, the course covers the history and development of policy research methods and provides an introduction to quantitative and qualitative methods applied to policy design, implementation, and evaluation. Students will apply concepts and methods to research projects on contemporary problems in Canada and in the global community in such fields as economic, health, aboriginal, environment, and international security. 

This course introduces students to the social scientific approach to research, with a focus on politics and policy. It starts with the basics, including: formulating research questions, strategies for writing a literature review, measuring concepts, and constructing falsifiable hypotheses. The latter half of the course turns to the practical side of qualitative research, including interviewing, content analysis and research ethics. By the end of the course students will be able to propose a research project, as well as plan qualitative research that is consistent with contemporary ethical and methodological standards.    

How can we make the world a more gender equal and socially just place? This course examines the relationships between gender, systems of inequality, and public policy. The course focuses on understanding contemporary approaches to creating gender-responsive public policy and theoretical tools for analyzing public policy. The course also explores how to apply this knowledge to contemporary social issues.

This course introduces concepts, approaches, and trends associated with science policy and science-based policy decision making in Canada. Students will be introduced to key concepts and structures in Canadian public administration, the evolution of key policy actors and organizations that have contributed to science policy decisions in Canada with a focus on the federal level of government, learn the development of science policy in Canada, as well as understand Canadian approaches to science-based policy decisions with a focus on environment-related examples and case studies.  

This course aims to provide students with a deeper understanding and appreciation of how federalism and intergovernmental relations shape Canadian politics and the policymaking process. The course will explore the competing conceptions of federalism; the institutional and economic implications of the federal structure; and the effects of federalism on intergovernmental relations and policymaking.  

Armero. Katrina. Fukushima. The Turkey-Syria Earthquake. This course explains how failures of policy, planning, and preparation have resulted in the worst disasters in modern history – and how societies and governments have learned or failed to learn from these disasters. Using applied research and simulation-based learning, this course will also examine the policies and programs that can help societies prevent/mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from hazards as they increase in frequency and severity. Prerequisite: PGOV 101; or permission of the instructor.  

The policies, programs, and services developed and delivered by local governments have a profound impact on our daily lives. This course examines the form, function, and financing of local governments and governance systems in Canada, the challenges they face, and how they develop local solutions to address challenges that are often regional, national, and global in scale. It also explores the best practices and new approaches that can help local governments better serve their citizens.

As the capstone course for the Public Policy and Governance program, it applies key concepts and values learned in the program to contemporary case studies. Visiting leaders and scholars as well as program faculty will engage with students on topics pertaining to governance and policy, with an emphasis on problem-solving and long-term thinking with real-world examples. Course methods may include lectures, guest speakers, cases, presentation, and simulations.  

Students will engage in discussion with one another and with readings on major contemporary public policy issues domestically and internationally. The course will have students debate research recently published in the field and complete several assignments, both oral and written, in relation to these readings.  

Students will spend the equivalent of a single term, usually the summer between the junior and senior year, gaining hands-on experience in a work or volunteer setting that will provide them with exposure to public policy and governance experience. The intern placement would be for a minimum of 60 days. Placement settings may include non-profits, government offices, or community organizations. With the permission of the Program Coordinator, the requirement could also be met by an approved service learning experience.

Under the supervision of a professor, each student completes a research project, from conception to completion, over the course of the year. The student is responsible for choosing a topic, the use of resources, the methodological soundness, and literary quality of the final product. Restricted to Honours with Subsidiary students.