MPV_APPA Public Policy Analysis

Faculty of Economics and Administration
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
2/2/0. 8 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
doc. JUDr. Ivan Malý, CSc. (lecturer)
Ing. Marek Pavlík, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. JUDr. Ivan Malý, CSc.
Department of Public Economics – Faculty of Economics and Administration
Contact Person: Jana Biskupová
Supplier department: Department of Public Economics – Faculty of Economics and Administration
Prerequisites
No special prerequisites are set up. Lectures are in English, and required readings are also in English. The prerequisite is therefore a normal level of comprehension of spoken and read text.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 24 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/24, only registered: 0/24
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to acquire and consolidate the necessary competences for independent critical evaluation of public policies, especially their impact, design and implementation.
Learning outcomes
The graduate of the course will acquire the ability to:
- systematically and correctly evaluate the impact of public policies;
- analyse the strengths and weaknesses of public policy development, implementation and evaluation processes;
They will practice their ability to apply the knowledge gained in the discussion of specific public policy issues and strengthen their verbal and argumentation skills.
Lastly, they will deepen their ability to apply methods of economic analysis to specific cases and to formulate (or be able to argue for) their views on controversial issues of theory and practice.
Syllabus
  • Outline:
  • 1) Basic principles, values and problems of public policy - What shapes policy?
  • 2) Structuring policy problems.
  • 3) Elements and methods of analysis.
  • 4) Methods of analysis - Predicting future developments - principles and procedures.
  • 5) Policy evaluation, rationality criteria, evaluation methods.
  • 6) Analysis of implementation processes.
  • 7) Analysis of the roles of public policy actors.
  • 8) Construction of policy arguments.
  • 9) Policy recommendations.
  • 10) Case studies, presentation of own seminar projects.
Literature
    required literature
  • DUNN, William N. Public policy analysis. Sixth edition. Taylor & Francis, 2018. ISBN 9781138743830.
    recommended literature
  • HOWLETT, Michael and M. RAMESH. Studying public policy : policy cycles and policy subsystems. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003, v, 311. ISBN 0195417941. info
  • DYE, Thomas R. Understanding public policy. 11th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005, xvii, 356. ISBN 0131174525. info
  • KNOEPFEL, Peter. Public policy analysis. 1st ed. Bristol: The Policy Press, 2007, 317 s. ISBN 9781861349071. info
    not specified
  • CAIRNEY, Paul. Understanding public policy : theories and issues. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012, xvii, 327. ISBN 9780230229709. info
Teaching methods
lectures; group discussions,; readings; group work We expect attendance an both lectures and seminars. Students are allowed to miss 2 seminars without letters of excuse. Other cases will be considered individually.
Assessment methods
The subject assessment combines a number of activities:
Midterm test max. 30 points. The Midterm covers topics from week 1-5. (Multiple choice type)
Final test max. 40 points. The content covers lessons from a whole semester. (Multiple choice type)
Presentation of seminar paper: accepted/not accepted (see details in the interactive syllabus)
Oral exam max. 30 points. Discussion covering upgraded presentation of seminar paper (based on feedback from the semester) and broader issues related to the topic of the paper.

Voluntary quizzes and activities: Almost all lectures and seminars offer a chance to gain 1 extra point (per lecture or seminar) as a reward for the activity. The reward can be gained via quick quiz tests and other activities specified in the interactive syllabus. See the Interactive syllabus before lecture/seminar for more details.
Voluntary activity: reading one book from the list of recommended books and discussing the content of the book with teacher after the class or during consultation hours (individual consultation – individual arrangement is possible).
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
Teacher's information
https://is.muni.cz/auth/ucitel/?fakulta=1456;obdobi=9105;predmet=1566926;masedleregist=1
In case the student enrols in the course during his/her trip abroad, he/she must contact the course supervisor and agree on the conditions of the course. We prefer to accept analogous courses taken abroad, as long as there is a reasonable overlap in topics.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/econ/spring2025/MPV_APPA