Edward C Lorenz, Ph.D.
Recent Courses Taught
Introduction to Public Management & Policy. POL 141.
More Details:
In the course we will study the background, structure, and function of public administration in carrying out public policy. The course will be divided into four parts:
A. We will begin with a review of the structure of American government and the origins of bureaucracy and then review the practical and theoretical relationship of public bureaucracy to the other institutions of government. Early in the course we will begin two case studies of public management, looking at the evolution of public health policy and environmental policy [we also will have the flexibility to allow students to explore policies of interest].
B. Next we will examine structure of bureaucracy to achieve policy goals, especially the challenges of recruiting and controlling personnel in bureaucratic organizations to carry out policy. We will carry further our case studies looking at the implementation of public health and the environment.
C. The third quarter of the course will focus on the products of public policies, traditional limitations on policy making, efforts to overcome those, and the serious problems of avoiding errors and improper and unethical behavior.
D. We will conclude our study of public management and policy by examining trends in public management, and focus especially on the relationship between public administrators and the public, the defining of the public interest, and the role of the civil society in both empowering and controlling its public bureaucracy.
Whether we intend to become public or private administrators (and virtually every one of us is destined for that role, since the purpose of higher education is to prepare us for leadership of our institutions and the bureaucracies that control them), all of us are users or subjects of public policies and public administrators. All of us have a fundamental role, as participants in a democratic society, in evaluating and controlling public administration. The course should provide knowledge of public administration sufficient for us to serve as responsible citizens. Finally, as a service-learning course, every student needs to think of how to apply what we learn to help our community.
