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| Policy Project |
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Directions:
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| Each student will be required to complete a
thorough, competent, well-written policy analysis
project with “real world”
implications and grounding such as a briefing paper, white paper, or a
cost-benefit analysis. Students
should orient their project towards the needs of a
specific client (real or
hypothetical). While there is some room for
flexibility in terms of the scope and substance of your policy projects,
every project must clearly define a specific policy problem, identify the
rational for government intervention, and specify evaluative criteria used
to generate your recommended course of action. Every policy project
must identify and analyze more than one alternative for addressing the
specified problem and then analyze the alternatives in a systematic fashion
using data. You must then recommend a specific course of action.
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Picking a Topic
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| There are many ways to find a
suitable policy problem to build your project around. You can focus on
a problem that interests you or use the assignment to learn about some
problem outside of your area of expertise. You can focus on smaller
local problems or larger federal or state issues. Newspapers, web
searches, and handouts contained on the topics pages may offer additional
ideas to get you started. You may even one to contact state and local politicians, managers, and political organizations
to find problems that merit analysis. Students should waste no time in identifying the subject for
their analysis and a primarily criterion should be that it can be
completed within the timeframe of the course.
You will soon discover that these analyses require research and
information to support your analysis.
So availability of information should be something you
consider when selecting a problem. Don't be afraid to focus on just a
small piece of a larger problem for your analysis. I would prefer you
tackle something small in greater depth than do a superficial analysis of a
large, complex problem. Some problem areas are also data rich while
others are definitely more challenging in terms of gathering data in the
confines of a semester.
Students are advised
to consult with the professor before investing too much time in a
potential topic to be sure that the project can be completed during the
semester. In summary, the best project is a done
project so avoid the tendency to be overly ambitious. I would also
warn against continuing to change and modify your topic. Commit to a
topic early on and make it work. |
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Class Discussion of Your Projects
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| You will be required to periodically discuss
the progress of your analysis with your classmates and any lessons you
have learned to date. These
short presentations will allow you to practice how to communicate your
findings to decision makers. This
can and should include asking your fellow classmates for ideas and
opinions about how to overcome the obstacles you confront during your
analysis. Time will also be spent at
the beginning of each class discussing any problems you are confronting
with your analysis. Thus, you should
use your instructor and classmates as resources to help you complete your
analysis. Conversely, these
discussions will provide others in the class with a broad overview of the
problems that practitioners confront when performing various types of
analysis. |
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Written Assignments
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| You will be required to submit several
preliminary written assignments. While ungraded,
completion of the assignments is reflected in your participation grade.
They also serve two
functions. First, they help prevent procrastination and force you to
pick a topic early and perform elements of the analysis while we are
discussing the corresponding readings. Second, they help you learn
how to communicate the key points of your analysis in memo form.
Each student is required to complete the following written assignments: |
 | Problem
memo: Students must develop a two-page memo that specifies the problem to be
addressed, the client (real or hypothetical), and the question(s) that the
policy analysis will address. Students should
attach a bibliography of at least 15 references associated with the
topic. |
| Alternatives
memo: Students must prepare a 3 page
memo that: defines the problem and frames it as a market or government
failure (i.e., identifies the rationale for government intervention);
identifies the main factors affecting the problem (i.e., is their a
causal model associated with the problem); identifies alternatives;
and, summarizes the criteria that will be used to
evaluate the alternatives. It
should also include as an attachment a list of bibliographic references
and your data sources used in the analysis and any necessary tables (e.g.,
summary of the alternatives or criteria) or figures (e.g., map of the
causes of the problem).
Essentially, it should be a summary of your final
paper and indicate where you have work left to do.
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Final Report
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| You
must also learn how to communicate the results of your analysis in a
professional manner. Accordingly, each student is required to submit
a final report that counts as a significant portion of your final course
grade. At a minimum,
your final report must include the following: |
| Cover |
| Table of contents |
| Executive summary |
| Main
report (i.e., discussion of problem, discussion of
evaluative criteria, discussion of each alternative, projected outcomes of
each alternative, a comparison of the alternatives, a recommended
alternative, and an implementation strategy for that alternative) |
| Supporting tables and
figures |
| Bibliography |
| Response
to comments |
| Necessary
appendices or supporting materials |
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| A more detailed outline
describing the expected substance and organization of the report can be
downloaded on the following handout. The
report is expected to be clear, concise, and professional. It should communicate your findings effectively to your
client. Tables
and figures should be included to display results. It should use
headings and subheadings. Final reports will
probably be around 25 double-spaced pages (or the
equivalent) in length not including the tables,
figures, bibliography, appendices, etc. However, the length will vary based on
the problem and the type of analysis.
They should have no more
than 1" margins (unless you bind it and your left margin can be larger).
It should use 11 or 12 point font depending on the font you choose.
The policy report can be single-spaced or double-spaced and should include
running headers and footers. You should use page breaks and section
breaks to obtain the proper formatting of the report and you should be able
to print out the entire report as a single file using Adobe Acrobat or
Microsoft Word. All pages other than the cover should be numbered and
the main report must begin on page 1. Be sure the cover has the title
of your project and your name at a minimum. |
| Since writing a policy
report is a type of professional writing that will be new to many of you,
there is a set of readings on blackboard to provide additional guidance in
the preparation of your final written report. |
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Final Presentation
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| You must also learn how to present the
results of your analysis professionally and concisely as many
decision makers have busy schedules. Accordingly, you will have only
10 minutes for your final presentation of the draft
report on the last day of class. You should use
appropriate audiovisual materials and rehearse your presentation so you
make the best use of your time. You will be cut off after 10 minutes
and graded only on what is presented during that time period.
Since presenting the results of your analysis may be new to many of you,
there is a set of readings on Blackboard that discuss how to present the
results of your analysis. |
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