Ph.D. Course Descriptions
Foundation Requirements
PA 8150—Foundations of New Governance (3 credits) Political, economic, and social context of government and public service; examines theories and models of new governance and implications for policy-making, public management, and public service delivery.
PA 8160—Organizational Dynamics and Leadership (3 credits) Focuses on understanding human action in administrative situations and on developing personal capacities for effective action in varied and difficult organizational situations.
PA 8170—Public Policy Processes and Strategies (3 credits) Processes through which public demands are generated, converted into public policy, and implemented. Examines the intersection of politics, policy, and management as well as the diverse strategies and tools of public action.
PA 8180—Research Methods & Inquiry in Public Affairs (3 credits) This course introduces basic statistical methods, covering descriptive statistics, probability theory, probability distributions (normal, binomial, Poisson, exponential), sampling distributions, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, and bivariate and multivariate regression. The course also trains students in statistical software.
PA 8191—Economic Analysis for Public Policy II (3 credits) Methods of economic evaluation of public policies, including cost-benefit analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis. Other topics include: discounting, risk, and uncertainty; role of non-economic policy goals in analysis.
(Coursework in microeconomics is a prerequisite. Students who have not taken this course previously may take PA 8190, but it does not count toward doctoral credit requirements.)
Doctoral Core
PA 9150—Governance and Public Affairs (3 credits) This seminar examines classical and contemporary theories of governance, the role of the state and other social institutions, and the intersection of policy making and management across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Other topics include administrative reform, the new public management, and the emergence of the multi-sector public service. International comparative dimensions emphasized.
PA 9160—Organization Studies in Public Affairs (3 credits) This course examines the major issues and perspectives in organizational dynamics and leadership in the public and nonprofit sectors. Topics covered will include: history and development of organization studies; contemporary perspectives in organization theory; individual and group behavior; leadership, power, and influence; organization design and structure; organizational culture.
PA 9170—Policy Theory (3 credits) This seminar examines the theories and current research on the policy process, institutions, and delegation of power that influence public policy. Topics covered may include agenda setting, policy design, implementation, legislative decision-making, state political institutions, and federalism.
PA 9171—Political Economy of Public Affairs (3 credits) This seminar focuses on formal theories of public decision-making, collective choice, and strategic interaction of public actors in different institutional environments. Topics may include social choice theories, game theory, median voter theories, logic of collective action, public choice, and principal agent models. The course assumes a basic understanding of microeconomics.
PA 9182—Logics of Inquiry in Public Affairs (3 credits) This course examines the philosophical foundations of social inquiry. Topics include investigation of epistemological and methodological issues in development and use of social research, and exploration of the theoretical underpinnings of multiple paradigms in public affairs (public policy, planning, and organizational studies) and the social and behavioral sciences.
PA 9183—Public Affairs Research and Professional Development Seminar (1 credit) Research and professional development through participation in research seminars, colloquia, academic conferences, lectures, and professional workshops. Students required to register every spring semester while in residence.
Methods
PA 9180—Advanced Research Methods I (3 credits) The course focuses on multiple regression analysis, beginning with ordinary least squares estimation, and then considers the implications and treatment of serial correlation, heteroskedasticity, multicollinearity, specification error, and measurement error. Students will gain experience estimating models, and learn to recognize diagnostic information on model performance and to interpret and present findings.
PA 9181—Advanced Research Methods II (3 credits) This seminar will focus on a set of specialized statistical modeling tools for dealing with limited dependent variables and complex data situations, such as time-series cross-sectional data, clustered observations, and multilevel data. The course also provides an introduction to more advanced topics including simultaneous equations models and instrumental variables. Since many of the models rely on maximum-likelihood estimation, the basic ideas and techniques of maximization will be covered.
PA 9000—Directed Individual Study (3 credits) Supervised readings and research in area of doctoral specialization. Student must submit formal written proposal to doctoral adviser and supervising faculty member prior to registration. May repeat to a maximum of six (6) semester hours.
PA 9185—Supervised Research (3 credits) Research experience directed by major professor designed to prepare doctoral students for independent scholarship in the area of specialization.