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.

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).

• 20% − Individual reaction memo.
• 20% − Midterm in-class concept note.
• 50% − Final in-class exam.
• 10% − Course engagement component.