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Bulletin Archive

This archived information is dated to the 2008-09 academic year only and may no longer be current.

For currently applicable policies and information, see the current Stanford Bulletin.

Public Policy

Director: Bruce M. Owen (Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research)

Deputy Director: Gregory L. Rosston (Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research)

Associate Director and Senior Lecturer: Geoffrey Rothwell (Economics, Public Policy)

Acting Assistant Professor and Director of Practicum: Mary Sprague (Public Policy)

Executive Committee: Laurence Baker (Medicine), Jonathan Bendor (Business), David Brady (Political Science, Hoover Institution), Timothy Bresnahan (Economics), Samuel Chiu (Management Science and Engineering), Morris Fiorina (Political Science), Judith Goldstein (Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Political Science), David Grusky (Sociology), Stephen Haber (Political Science, Hoover Institution), Eric A. Hanushek (Hoover Institution), Deborah Hensler (Law), Daniel Kessler (Business, Law), David Kreps (Business), Roger Noll (Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research), Leonard Ortolano (Civil and Environmental Engineering), Bruce Owen (Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research), Sean Reardon (Education), Lee Ross (Psychology), Gregory Rosston (Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research), Debra Satz (Philosophy), John B. Shoven (Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, Economics, Hoover Institution), Stephen Stedman (Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies)

Affiliated Faculty: Donald Barr (Sociology), Jayanta Bhattacharya (Medicine), Coit Blacker (Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies), Paul Brest (Law), Jeremy Bulow (Graduate School of Business), John Cogan (Hoover Institution), Eamonn Callan (Education), Martin Carnoy (Education), Joshua Cohen (Political Science), Paul David (Economics), Lynn Eden (Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies), Lawrence Friedman (Law), Lawrence Goulder (Economics, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies), Thomas C. Heller (Law, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies), Nicholas Hope (Stanford Center for International Development), Jon A. Krosnick (Communications, Political Science), Thomas MaCurdy (Economics), Mark McClellan (Economics, School of Medicine; on leave), Robert McGinn (Management Science and Engineering), Milbrey McLaughlin (Education), Terry Moe (Political Science), Norman Nie (Political Science), A. Mitchell Polinsky (Law, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research), Jeff Strnad (Law), Barton Thompson (Law), Michael Tomz (Political Science), David Victor (Law), Greg Walton (Psychology), Jonathan Wand (Political Science), Barry Weingast (Political Science), Frank Wolak (Economics)

Lecturers: Laura Arrillaga (Graduate School of Business), Ward Hanson (Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research), Tammy Frisby (Political Science), Jonathan D. Greenberg (Law), Adrienne Jamieson (Stanford in Washington), Anjini Kochar (Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research), Eva Meyersson Milgrom (Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research), Joe Nation, Teceta Thomas Tormala (Psychology), Scott Wallsten (Stanford in Washington), Patrick Windham

Teaching Fellows: Brent Durbin, Kirsten Oleson

Program Office: Encina Hall West, Room 204

Mail Code: 94305-6050

Program Phone: (650) 725-0109

Web Site: http://www.stanford.edu/dept/publicpolicy

Courses offered by the Public Policy Program have the subject code PUBLPOL, and are listed in the "Public Policy [PUBLPOL] Courses" section of this bulletin.

The undergraduate Public Policy curriculum is intended to expose students to the basic concepts and tools used in evaluating public policy options and outcomes, and to prepare students for entry-level positions in organizations concerned with such analysis. Although the concepts and tools are of wider applicability, the institutional context is chiefly American. Economics and quantitative analyses are central to but not sufficient for modern public policy analysis; political science, law, philosophy, organizational behavior, and cognitive psychology are among other necessary disciplinary perspectives. Political philosophy and ethics form the foundations of public policy. Political science offers insights to the decision making process and information needs of a democracy. Organizational behavior focuses on the decisions made outside the market environment in hierarchies, bureaucracies, and teams. Nearly all public policy is formulated as law, and economic analysis of legal rules and institutions is key to effective implementation of policy decisions.

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