Course Topics
This is a free choice course of the BA in EPE (Economics, Politics and Ethics), in the disciplinary sector of Political Science. The course explores public policy processes involving a variety of actors from policy makers to grassroots movements and civil society associations. Besides providing an overview of the main theoretical approaches and their application to the study of the policy process, the course offers its students an applied experience of public policy evaluation engaging them actively in dialogue with local stakeholders (like local policy makers, practitioners and civil society associations). Upon successful completion of this course, a student should be able to: • Have a strong knowledge of the major theories developed to study the public policy process • Apply these theories to study different aspects of how policy decisions are made and how policies are shaped in action • Understand the central components of the policy-making process, from policies’ emergence to formulation and implementation • Identify the role of key political actors and organized interests in driving the policy-making process • Recognize the institutions’ role in enabling and constraining the policy-making process • Understand and critically analyze public policies • Adopt and actively use methods of policy evaluation (e.g.: interviews, participant observation, focus groups) During this course, you will learn the analytical tools fundamental to understand how local national and international policy-making works. The course is mainly structured around the following three subsections: 1. The study of public policy and its context: this first part of the course will explain to you the meaning of “public policy”, the main theoretical approaches used, and its contextual endeavors. 2. How policies see the light: this part of the course will provide you with a review of the core stages of the policy cycle from its definition to the identification, and the selection of policy alternatives, and the consequent implementation. 3. Evaluation, feedback and change: this section will focus on the evaluation of public policies and on the potentiality of public policy change. This part of the course will provide the student with the possibility to empirically apply the learnt theoretical and methodological guidelines.

Propaedeutic courses
None

Teaching format
The course includes lectures, seminars with experts, and active student involvement in policy evaluation tasks based on real local case studies.

Educational objectives
At the end of the course, students will have attained the following competences and skills: - fundamentals of political science, and understanding of the articulations of the discipline; - the concept of political power and the conditions of its exercise; - the concept of political system; - the distinction between empirical and normative approaches; what theories are for; - the relationship between state and individual; - the concept of subjective right; - the nature of third type constitutions; State, Parliament, government and judicial bodies political parties, interest groups, movements; - the European Union as a political system, the integration process and the prospects of enlargement - globalisation and the logic (and actors) of the international system. Applying knowledge and understanding: Ability to analyse and anticipate the effects on the political system of particular events and/or actions such as, for example, political elections; Ability to analyse a technical text using appropriate theoretical tools; Ability to produce a reasoned text on a political science topic Autonomy of judgement Acquisition of the capacity for judgement and methodological tools useful for the critical analysis of data, sources, assumptions and implications of scientific practice, of the political, ethical and legal context within which economic phenomena are inscribed and with which they interact Communication skills The course contributes to reaching the following objectives: fluency (oral and written) in Italian, German and English, including translation between these languages. Intercultural competence. Conceptual awareness, ability to summarise and express oneself in writing, particularly with regard to the drafting of scientific or science-based documents Learning skills Promotion of critical thinking and analytical skills to focus on complex problems in their long-term dynamics and in the variety of their implications, including ethical ones

Additional educational objectives and learning outcomes
This course is intended to provide you with the needed knowledge and understanding of patterns of decision- making applied to local, national and international contexts. This will allow you to understand which are the drivers of public decisions and how they are different or similar within various decision-making contexts. The course will provide you with the tools to understand and critically analyze policy positions and preferences concerning policy. During the course, you will be confronted with processes of policy formation and negotiations, and you will be able to understand how they are influenced. One of the core objectives of the course is to make you skilled to understand and critically analyze the public policy process and the eventual connection between policy actors and institutions. You will learn how to critically evaluate the policy-making’s dynamics expressing yourself appropriately and professionally. You will be confronted with original research text that you will be able to understand and summarize professionally. Lastly, you will be confronted with hands-on experience of public policy evaluation (see assessment section for further information)

Assessment
Please note that even if course attendance is not mandatory, it will determine different exam modalities. This course defines students upon attendance as follows: - Attending students: all those students who take part in both the class project and the organized class excursion (see below) - Non-attending students: all those students who NEITHER participate in the class project, NOR will take part to the organized excursion This distinction is mirrored in the exam modalities as follows: - Attending students’ final evaluation: - 60% course project - 40% written exam - Non-attending students: - 100% written exam Further details: - Course project: the course offers students with the possibility to take part to a policy evaluation experiment done in collaboration between local stakeholders (policy makers, practitioners and civil society associations). Students who take part to the course project will be expected to: - Participate in an organized local excursion (expenses fully covered) organized during the regular course timetable - Participate in guest lectures and seminars organized during the regular course timetable - Participate in empirical policy evaluation sessions organized during the regular course timetable - Participate to the realization of a report (written individual contribution expected) to be shared with local stakeholders concerning the obtained results - Written exam (attending students): for all attending students (see above) the written exam is constituted of 2 written questions regarding the aspects treated during the course project and the course itself - Written exam (non-attending students): for non-attending students (see above) the assessment consists of a written exam covering the topics treated during the course. Please note that a list of arguments that will be part of the non-attending exam format will be shared in due time during the lectures. Please note that this exam modality will have the following structure (duration 2hrs): o 20 quick answer questions (0.5 points each) o 4 Analytical questions with a maximum of 8 lines answer (2.5 points each) o 2 Analytical questions with a maximum of 15 lines answer (5 points each)

Evaluation criteria
The evaluation criteria apply to both attending and non-attending students, and will be based on their ability to recall and apply the content of the readings. Particular attention will be given to the precision and appropriateness of written production, as well as to students’ participation in the outlined activities. A critical approach to the discipline—namely, the ability to reason critically about political concepts and phenomena—will also be assessed