Skip to content
Define and Understand Concepts in Public Policy – Students should be able to provide a robust definition of public policy and other relevant terms to support their understanding of public policyIdentify Elements of the Policy Process - Students should be able to identify and explain parts of the policy process at work in any given issue of interest Critically Analyze Policy Approaches – Students should be able to examine policy alternatives analytically and explain their analysis in context.
Course overview
Welcome to PLS 313! I'm so excited you are here and ready to explore the world of American Public Policy with me.
Course Information
Spring Semester 2026
Days: Tues/Thurs, weekly
Time: 3:00 - 4:20pm EST
Location: Berkey Hall 219
Instructor Information
Prof. Alexandra Stinson-Swartout, ABD
Office Location: S. Kedzie Hall Rm 213
Office Hours: 12:00 - 1:30, Tu/Th OR
by appointment via email:
ULA
Mia Varricchione
Email: varricch@msu.edu
PLS 313: American Public Policy (3 credits)
Put simply, public policy is whatever the government does (or doesn’t do) to address a problem in our every day lives. It can be anything from gun regulations to city noise ordinances, budgets, crosswalk placement, etc. Typically, the study of public policy is divided into two parts - the policy process, or how policies come about, and policy analysis, how we analyze existing policies or policy alternatives. This course will use theory and practical approaches from political science, public policy, and economics to cover a wide variety of topics on both policy and process. We will explore how an issue gets the attention of lawmakers, how they choose (or don’t choose) to legislate that issue, what they could have done instead, and how to analyze the outcomes of the policy they did enact. We will do this using theory and practical approaches from political science, public policy, and economics.
Outcomes
Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:
Credit for syllabus template goes to:
Want to print your doc?
This is not the way.
This is not the way.
Try clicking the ··· in the right corner or using a keyboard shortcut (
CtrlP
) instead.