SES # | TOPICS | READINGS |
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1 | Introduction Overview of the course - the faculty, objectives, format, and requirements. First lectures: Knowledge use in theory and practice, perspectives from inside and outside academia. | |
2 | Models of knowledge production and decision-making The rational policy/planning model, muddling through, deliberation and social learning. (PDF) |
Peirce, Charles S. "The Fixation of Belief." Popular Science Monthly 12 (1877): 1-15. Lindblom, Charles E. "The Science of Muddling Through." Public Administration Review 19 (1959): 79-88.
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3 | Agendas and the policy process The importance of agenda-setting and other "pre-decision" processes in policymaking. The Kingdon model and its critics; the role of narrative. (PDF) |
Wilensky, Harold. "Can Social Science Shape the Public Agenda?" Contexts (Spring 2005): 41-47.
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4 | Frames and persuasion Storytelling, metaphor, and frames. Alignment among frames, institutional context, and policy and political streams (PDF) Guest: Jal Mehta, Harvard Graduate School of Education | Mehta, Jal. The Transformation of American Educational Policy: Ideas and the Rise of Accountability Politics. In progress, 2006.
"The Framing Wars." New York Times Magazine, July 17, 2005. Recommended
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5 | Paradigms and fads Design and urban form, urban utopias, popular culture and the Good City. (PDF) Guest: Lawrence Vale, MIT |
Fainstein, Susan. "New Directions in Planning Theory." Urban Affairs Review 35 (2000): 451-478. |
6 | Diffusion of innovation Creating and diffusing innovation, "structured" diffusion, replication and mimicking. (PDF) |
Recommended Gladwell, Malcolm. "Six Degrees of Lois Weisberg," The New Yorker, January 1999. |
7 | Case of anti-poverty policy and research The Moving to Opportunity experiment as a social policy case, political and fiscal context, images of ghetto poverty, the Hurricane Katrina media effect. (PDF) Guest: Jeffrey Liebman, Harvard Kennedy School of Government | Brooks, David. "Katrina's Silver Lining," The New York Times, September 8, 2005. Orr, et al. "Executive Summary." In MTO Interim Impacts Evaluation. Washington, DC: U.S. HUD, 2003. Hilsenrath, Jon. "How Much Does a Neighborhood Affect the Poor?" The Wall Street Journal, December 6, 2006. MIT Communications Office. "How to Work With the News Media to Tell Your Story." (Workshop materials, scroll down to Powerpoint® presentation and two sample press releases.) |
8 | Science in environmental policy disputes Science-intensive disputes, "experts for hire", joint fact finding. (PDF) Guest: Lawrence Susskind, MIT and the Consensus Building Institute |
Lenard, Steven R., and Ian J. Finlayson. "The Role of the Scientist in Collaborative Environmental Policy Making." MIT-USGS Science Impact Collaborative. (PDF)# Amengual, Matthew. "Incorporating Local Knowledge Into Joint Fact Finding." MIT-USGS Science Impact Collaborative. (PDF)# |
9 | Action learning and practice Action learning, embedded or "social" learning, theories of practice, communities of practice (knowledge networks). (PDF) |
Snyder, William, and Xavier de Souza Briggs. "Communities of Practice: A New tool." IBM Center for the Business of Government, pp. 4-25. (PDF)# |
10 | The politics and use of evaluation research Truth tests and utility tests, demonstration theory of social change, media and public consumption. (PDF) | Weiss, Carol H., and Michael Bucuvalas. "Truth Tests and Utility Tests: Decision Makers' Frames of Reference for Social Science Research." American Sociological Review 45 (1980): 302-313. Weiss, Carol H. "The Interface Between Evaluation and Public Policy." Evaluation 5 (1999): 468-486.
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11 | Research writing for non-academic readers Research briefs, communication channels, writing support, editing styles. (PDF) | |
12 | Student briefs and knowledge-in-use cases. (PDF) | |
13 | Course review. |