K2SP 3745 - The Politics of Policy

Policy is politics − its very target and the terrain of organizational combat. While policy is shaped by political struggles, structural shocks, economic constraints, and deep social cleavages, it is also constitutive of politics itself. Policies trigger institutional change, reshape power relations, and mobilize allies and adversaries. They play out across time and space − within national and subnational arenas, through vertical and horizontal federal arrangements, and in the dynamic exchanges between government and society. With each policy decision, distributional consequences emerge: winners consolidate power, losers adapt or resist, and new political congurations take form. To study policy is to trace not only the social forces that give rise to political decisions, but also the political dynamics those decisions set in motion − the shifting architecture of competition, authority, and social change. This course provides a foundation for understanding these dynamics. The rst ve sessions synthesize key insights from comparative political economy, comparative politics, and public policy litteratures. Subsequent modules examine how structural transformations − from globalization and technological change to demographic shifts and scal constraints − have reshaped the policymaking landscape. In turn, we explore how contemporary policy responses have generated new cleavages, recongured political alignments, and intensied conict across advanced capitalist democracies. Overall, the course invites and equips students to see policy not merely as a response to political change − but as a key driver of it.

Cyril BENOIT

Cours magistral seul

English

Autumn 2025-2026

1. 20% − Two individual reaction memos and class participation. 2. 30% − Oral presentation of a draft version of the nal paper (group project). 3. 50% − Final paper (group project).

Sessions 1−5 oer an advanced introduction to key concepts in comparative political economy, comparative politics, and public policy. No prior knowledge of these literatures is required. Sessions 6−11 each focus on a major issue or challenge in contemporary policymaking, examining both its policy content and political implications. Session 12 is dedicated to student presentations of a draft version of their nal paper. The course is highly interactive. Students are expected to come prepared and to have completed the assigned readings in advance (typically three academic papers per session).