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Core Curriculum

Public Policy

Public Policy

Facilitators: Kenneth Faulve-Montojo and Elsa Chen, Political Science

A policy is a plan of action intended to achieve objectives. Public policy involves the laws that apply to citizens and residents and also to the organization of government. The laws include taxation, subsidies, and regulations. Policy involves ethics that provide justification of the objectives (such as equity), a political philosophy that applies to the structure of government, and implied theories of economics, sociology, and political science as applied to implementation. For example, a policy of the control of the money supply implies a belief in a theory of how the quantity of money and its control by the monetary authority affects an economy.

Associated Courses

Anthropology (ANTH)
152 Power and Society
155 Conflict Resolution 
Civil Engineering (CENG)
124 Water Law and Policy (cross-listed with ENVS 124)
Economics (ECON)
3 International Economics, Development, and Growth 
3H International Economics, Development, and Growth 
111 Economics of the Environment 
112 Existential Threats to Humanity: Economic Perspectives from Silicon Valley 
120 Economics of the Public Sector 
126 Economics and Law 
127 Public Finance: Taxation
129 Economic Development
137 World Economic History 
151 Economics of Education 
160 The Economics of Poverty and Inequality 
181 International Trade 
187 ​ Dynamic Macroeconomics 
199L Environmental Economics 
Environmental Studies & Sciences (ENVS)
122 Environmental Politics and Policy (cross-listed with POLI 157)
124 Water Law and Policy (cross-listed with CENG 124)
Ethnic Studies (ETHN)
155 Racism in the United States 
Gender and Sexuality Studies (GNSX)
180 Women and Politics (cross-listed with POLI 154)
History (HIST)
82B/182B Childhood in the US 
83/184 North America: Peoples and Lands
158 Turmoil and Reform: U.S. 1877-1920 
176 Celebrity and Politics
Management (MGMT)
6 Business Ethics 
Philosophy (PHIL)
25 Ethics in Society 
25H Ethics in Society: Honors 
26 Ethics in Business
28 Ethics in Politics 
28H Ethics in Politics
29 Ethics and the Environment 
29H Ethics and the Environment 
109 Ethics in Business
Physics (PHYS)
5 Physics and Technology for Future Leaders 
Political Science (POLI)
40 Politics of US Econ Policies
45 Criminal Justice System 
116A Model United Nations Prep (2 units; only counts after POLI 116B has been completed; if this course is used towards the pathway, additional courses may be needed to reach the 12 or 16 unit minimum)
116B Model United Nations: International Conflict Simulation (two units; if this course is used towards the pathway, additional courses may be needed to reach the 12 or 16 unit minimum)
123 Global Environmental Politics
150 The Presidency 
150AW The Presidency
151 The Congress
154 Women and Politics (cross-listed with GNSX 180)
157 U.S. Environmental Policy (cross-listed with ENVS 122)
158 Housing and Homelessness Policy 
163 State and Local Politics 
167 Making Public Policy
168 Criminal Justice Reform (this topic only)
172 Money and Politics 
195L Seminar in US Politics
Psychology (PSYC)
150 Social Psychology 
Religion, Theology, and Culture
Religion and Society (RSOC)
140 Animals, Environment & World Religion 
190 Islam: Reformation and Modernity 
Theology, Ethics, and Spirituality (TESP)
64 Environmental Justice in Catholic Imagination 
Sociology (SOCI)
33 Social Problems in the United States 
140 Urban Sociology
141 Climate Justice