Current course offerings

Please Note: Course profiles marked as not available may still be in development.

Course description

This course is structured around four debates which characterize the study of governance and public policy. The first is the government to governance debate. Are we now in an era of governance in which state power and traditional modes of government have been hollowed out? The second debate is between representative democracy and more participative forms of policymaking. In the face of declining trust and support for traditional representative institutions, should we be searching for answers in mechanisms which include citizens more often in policymaking? The third debate is between structure and agency. How can we square this circle theoretically so that we might explain governance and policymaking with respect to both? Finally, rational versus post-rational knowledge. What types of knowledge and ways of knowing are best for the formulation and implementation of policy? As we weave through these debates we rely on a range of policy examples (environmental policy, water management, indigenous policy, disaster management) and reflect on how our theories play a role in the real world of policy practice.

Archived offerings