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DEDMAN COLLEGE
PUBLIC POLICY

Professor Dennis Ippolito (Political Science), Director

The Public Policy major is an interdisciplinary program in Economics and Political Science. The B.A. degree in Public Policy is designed to provide students with the analytical skills and historical context to understand and deal with contemporary policy issues. The major in Public Policy is useful as preparation for work in government and business and as preparation for postgraduate study in law, public policy, and the social sciences.

Major Requirements. The B.A. degree in Public Policy requires a total of 33 hours. The degree consists of two components:

1. Eighteen (18) hours of core courses:

  • ECO 1311, 1312, and 3301

  • PLSC 1320, and PLSC 1340 or 1380

  • PLSC 3320

2. At least 15 hours of advanced courses selected from the fields below, with no fewer than six hours in Economics (ECO) and six hours in Political Science (PLSC) or Public Policy (PP).

To meet the advanced course requirements, students must take at least six hours in each of any two of the elds of Political Economy, Law and Social Policy, and International Politics and Policy, as well as three hours from the quantitative methods eld. Although not a requirement, students are advised to take at least one term of calculus (MATH 1309 or 1337) and one term of statistics (STAT 2301 or ITOM 2305).

Note of Importance. Students must receive at least a C - in all classes counting toward the major.

List of fields and acceptable courses (additional prerequisites not contained in the core are listed in parentheses):

Political Economy

  • ECO 4366 Economics of the Public Sector
  • ECO 4371 Theory of Industrial Structure
  • ECO 4382 Economics of Regulated Industries
  • ECO 4385 Macroeconomics: Theory and Policy (Prerequisite: ECO 3302)
  • ECO 5361 Natural Resources and Energy Economics (Prerequisite: ECO 3302)
  • ECO 5365 Public Finance
  • PLSC 3329 Bureaucracy and Regulatory Politics
  • PLSC 3355 The Political Economy of the Welfare State
  • PLSC 3389 International Political Economy
  • PLSC 3390 Negotiating International Trade
  • PLSC 4333 Policy, Politics, and the Budget

Law and Social Policy

  • ECO 4351 Labor Economics
  • ECO 5337 Urban Economics
  • ECO 5353 Law and Economics
  • ECO 5357 Economics of Human Resources
  • PLSC 3321 Congress and the Legislative Process
  • PLSC 3330 Law, Politics, and the Supreme Court
  • PLSC 3335 Judicial Process
  • PLSC 3370 Women and Politics
  • PLSC 4337 Civil Rights
  • PLSC 4338 Criminal Process Rights
  • PLSC 4339 Women and the Law
  • PLSC 4341 Comparative Rights and Representation
  • PP 3310 Environmental Policy

International Politics and Policy

  • ECO 3321 International Economic Policy
  • ECO 4357 International Trade
  • ECO 4358 International Macroeconomic Theory and Policy (Prerequisite: ECO 3302)
  • ECO 5360 Economic Development (Prerequisite: ECO 3302)
  • PLSC 3340 Western European Politics
  • PLSC 3345 Governments and Politics of the Middle East
  • PLSC 3346 Government and Politics of Japan
  • PLSC 3348 Governments and Politics of Latin America
  • PLSC 3358 Government and Politics of Russia
  • PLSC 3383 The American Foreign Policy Process
  • PLSC 3389 International Political Economy
  • PLSC 4356 Latin American Political Economy
  • PLSC 4381 National Security Policy
  • PLSC 4386 Issues of U.S.-East Asia Relations
  • PLSC 4391 NAFTA and Free Trade in the Americas

Quantitative Methods

  • ECO 5341 Strategic Behavior
  • ECO 5350 Introductory Econometrics (Prerequisites: STAT 2301 or 4340 or ITOM 2305, MATH 1309 or 1337)
  • ECO 5370 Cost-Benefit Analysis
  • ECO 5375 Economic and Business Forecasting (Prerequisite: STAT 2301 or ITOM 2305)

The Courses (PP)

3310. Environmental Policy. Overview of governmental environmental policies designed to provide a foundation for future application and study in the growing environmental field.