Parties and Public Policy

Module Code: PO8014

Module Name: Parties and Public Policy

• ECTS Weighting: 10
• Semester/Term Taught: Michaelmas
• Module Personnel: Lecturer - Professor Tim Hicks

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this class, students should be able to:

•  Have a critical understanding of core political science theories relating to median voter and partisanship;
•  Have a detailed knowledge of the empirical literature that has applied and tested these theories;
•  Have a comparative grounding in major public policies and societal outcomes in across advanced industrialised economies;
•  Have an understanding of the conceptual and empirical implications of the distinction between correlation and causation in the social sciences.

Module Learning Aims

This course has a number of aims. The first is to provide an overview of the literature on the `partisanship effect', and to connect it to some prominent and related theoretical and empirical work in the broader political science literature. The second aim is to develop some comparative knowledge of important aspects of public policy in several advanced industrialized economies. How large is government and why? What explains the extent of the welfare state? Does government influence inequality? The third aim is to use examples to develop an understanding of aspects of social science methodology - most particularly the distinction between correlation and causation.

Module Content

It seems important to establish whether it matters which party gets elected. While it may be natural to think that it does matter, are there good theoretical reasons to think this is true? Does the empirical literature support the contention? In pursuing answers to these questions, this course has a number of aims. The first is to provide an overview of the literature on the `partisanship effect', and to connect it to some prominent and related theoretical and empirical work in the broader political science literature. The second aim is to develop some comparative knowledge of important aspects of public policy in several advanced industrialised economies. How large is government and why? What explains the extent of the welfare state? Does government in infuence inequality? The third aim is to use examples to develop an understanding of aspects of social science methodology  - most particularly the distinction between correlation and causation.

Recommended Reading List

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Assessment Details

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