The first objective of the course is to investigate why some societies, and their respective governments have managed to produce public goods and prosperity and others have not, and what accounts for these differences. Using some fundamental texts from the field of comparative politics, both theoretical and empirical, and canvassing contemporary indexes, the class discusses the different theories, which explain the performance of various political and constitutional regimes and weights the evidence in their favor. The second objective of this course is to understand how states acquire one or another set of such political institutions with a view to identify theories of change grounded in the political economy of specific historical contexts. We also aim to understand how these individual trajectories converge or diverge in an interdependent world, and what are the consequences for the present and future world order. The empirical evidence is drawn from a variety of cases across all over the world, discussed in the comparative framework of their continent or income group, individually or in pairs (i.e. Russia and Ukraine, Estonia and Finland, Mexico and United States, Italy and France, North and South Korea, Botswana and Zimbabwe).

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING By the end of the course, students will acquire: - Knowledge of what a public policy is and how policy actors and tools operate under different development and governance contexts - Knowledge of what a policy cycle is and how it works under different governance contexts - Knowledge of all specific methods of policy analysis needed for the design, implementation and evaluation, such as problem diagnosis, political economy analysis (stakeholder analysis) and options analysis APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING Students will be able to apply the acquired knowledge in their future professional activities in several ways. In particular, they will be trained in: - Acquisition of the ability to write a professional policy analysis piece (memorandum) on a policy problem from an area of interest, including problem statement, problem diagnosis, stakeholder analysis and options analysis - Developing the ability to research and identify relevant indicators for successful implementation and an effective policy evaluation - Using public policy analysis to develop policy arguments and to communicate them in oral and written form. MAKING JUDGEMENTS Due to the emphasis placed on re-elaboration and discussion of the readings, students will be able to: - Critically analyse issues related to policymaking and contextualize them in light of the knowledge acquired in the course. - Develop problem-understanding and problem-solving capacity. - Evaluate specific policies and be able to provide advice on their success COMMUNICATION SKILLS During the course students will be asked to participate in the discussions in several ways, primarily through questions, comments on the readings and through positioning themselves in a well-argued way within a debate. Because of this, they will: - Improve the control of course-related terminology in English but at the same time be able to present complex content in an easily accessible form. - Become acquainted with engaging in critical discussions in front of a larger audience, communicating questions or comments in a clear way to the rest of the class, thus stimulating a general debate. - Listen to – and learn from – each other. LEARNING SKILLS By the end of the course, students are expected to acquire the following skills: - Capacity to autonomously engage with indicators to plan a policy evaluation - Capacity to understand governance contexts and plan an effective implementation based on evidence and context - Capacity to engage with opposite arguments and to develop one’s own position in a well-structured and clear way based on facts/data.

The first part of the course examines the stages of the policy process (problem formulation, agenda-setting, and decision-making) with a focus on the design, implementation and evaluation and their evidence basis. The discussion is placed in different governance contexts so that similar policies can be compared across continents and countries. The course uses case studies to review the main types of policy problems, their generic solutions, and the indicators to be used to plan an effective implementation, evaluate policy adequacy, and decide on its adjustment or termination.

Peters, B. G. & Pierre, J. (Eds.). (2006). Handbook of Public Policy. SAGE. – On Learn Fischer, F., Miller, G. J. & Sidney, M. S. (Eds.). (2007). Handbook of public policy analysis: theory, politics, and methods. CRC Press. – On Learn Bardach, E. & Patashnik, E. M. (2005). A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path to More Effective Problem Solving. 2nd edition. CQ Press. – Moran, M., Rein, M. & Goodin, R. (Eds.). (2008). The Oxford Handbook of Public Policy. Oxford University Press. – HM Treasury. (2020). The Magenta Book. HM Treasury guidance on what to consider when designing an evaluation. GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-magenta-book Caramani, D. (Ed.). (2014). Comparative Politics. 3rd edition. Oxford University Press. King, G., Keohane, R. O. & Verba, S. (2021). Designing Social Inquiry Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. New edition. Princeton University. – Available via Perlego

Each week, the course comprises a lecture (online) and a seminar (on campus). The lecture presents the main issues related to the content of the week. The seminar is a hands-on policy analysis class, stressing problem statements, indicators, stakeholder analysis and evaluation. The core readings are related to the lecture, although the seminar has some readings of its own, of a methodological nature to guide students into the analysis process. The seminar relies on the group structure of the class. Students will need to meet in groups at least twice on-site or online to agree on the basics of their short presentations and group assignments. Each group will present three times, so groups should organize in such a way that each individual student speaks at least once. Active participation in the class discussions and debates is expected and will be part of the final assessment. At Luiss, course attendance is mandatory. Students that cannot attend the course or part of it must provide official reasons (attested by a specific document, such as a medical certificate).

The grade for this course will be determined on the basis of 4 components graded equally with 25% of the final grade: 1) Group peer learning exercise 1: Problem statement, presentation in class and submission of ppt. 2) Group peer learning exercise 2: Stakeholder analysis presentation in class and submission of ppt. 3) Group writing exercise: Written problem statement with flagging of indicators which can potentially be used for evaluation – 1200 words including figures, excluding references. 4) Final individual exam: Individual research design of a policy evaluation. Templates for all presentations will be uploaded prior to the course.

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