The core curriculum, drawn from a variety of academic disciplines, provides the basic skills and knowledge essential for solving public policy problems and managing policy-making agencies and organizations. Central to this process is the ability to ask the right questions and get a full understanding of complex and often unfamiliar issues, to develop a complete range of possible solutions, to judge the ability of public institutions to carry out those options, and finally to choose and implement the most appropriate action in the most effective and ethical way. To equip students with these skills, three analytic approaches have been incorporated into the core curriculum: the economic logic of public choice; political and organizational analysis; and analytic methodologies. 
 

Economic Logic of Public Choice 

Almost every action taken in the public sector has some economic impact, and many can have far-reaching -- and sometimes unintended -- consequences. Policy analysts and managers constantly confront such questions: How does one determine when the benefits of a particular action are exceeded by the costs? What impact will raising or lowering taxes have on the economy -- and on government's ability to deliver services? Is it economic considerations or some kind of moral failing that keeps people on welfare? 

A two-course sequence in economic analysis is designed to provide students with the tools needed to address such questions. The first of these courses, on microeconomic theory, provides a thorough introduction to resource allocation in a market economy and how to evaluate the impact of economic regulation, the effects of different kinds of taxes, and other fundamental issues. The second course covers the techniques of benefit-cost analysis to give students a systematic means of determining whether what is gained through a particular action is worth the cost, whether the cost is measured in dollars, jobs, environmental impact, quality of life or other standards of measure. 
 

Political and Organizational Analysis 

In the public sphere, success depends on managing an often bewildering variety of shifting variables, including history, politics, public opinion, conflicting values, the structure of a particular organization and even personal relationships. Without understanding how institutions function, behave and interact, and without an acute understanding of the impact these variables can have, even the most sophisticated quantitative analysis will fail. 

The core curriculum includes a sequence of four classes designed to give students a comprehensive understanding of how the American political system works, a sequence that makes extensive use of case studies and offers practical suggestions for analysts and managers seeking to navigate the often treacherous hallways of bureaucratic power. The sequence also addresses the challenges and opportunities posed by an increasingly diverse workforce and the rapidly expanding role of technology in the life of organizations both public and private. 
 

Analytic Methodologies 

Numerical information increasingly is the basis of decision making -- particularly in the public policy arena, whether in the form of census data, polling results, economic forecasts or budget documents. The policy analyst or manager must not only have the data in hand, but know how to use it, interpret it or evaluate its validity -- skills that require a firm grasp of fundamental mathematical and statistical techniques. 

The School offers a two-quarter sequence that covers basic principles of statistics and probability and helps students make sense of quantitative information. The two courses on statistical methods and analysis focus on probability theory, statistical inference and regression analysis, all of which policy makers use to help them draw valid conclusions from whatever data they have, assess risks, forecast future trends and evaluate existing policies.