Course

Facilitates skill-building to answer questions such as how policymakers use research and evidence in their jobs, how researchers can make their work useful to policymakers, and how legislative support staff and other stakeholders use research and evidence to shape policy. Students will explore the definition of “evidence-based”, learn about different kinds of evidence and how it is used, and learn strategies for judging the rigor of research evidence. They will also explore the difference between an education-based approach to working with policymakers versus an advocacy-based approach, learn strategies for communicating research to policy makers (including written and oral presentations and data visualizations), research examples of successful evidence-based policymaking efforts, and understand the limits of using research in policymaking.

In domestic and international policymaking, stark differences between the private sector (“the market”) and the public sector (“the state”) are dissolving. For example, the private sector is being pushed to help achieve public policy goals, while the public sector is being pushed to be customer-oriented

The quality and impact of public policy often hinges on the way in which the policy is implemented.  This course will examine the factors that shape effective implementation.

Leadership is one of the most important but perplexing topics in the public sector; almost all agree its important, but we often disagree about what it actually means, or how to study it. This course aims to demystify the role of leadership in a public setting.

Introduces the key conceptual and methodological tools used in public program evaluation, with an emphasis on understanding the forces that shape health and disease as well as various policy solutions.

This course is designed to teach the role that strategy plays in maximizing the effectiveness and efficiency of a public organization.

Program of study devised by an undergraduate student in collaboration with an instructor.Routinely offered: This course is offered every year.

This course provides students with opportunities for learning and working in organizations that integrate knowledge and theory learned in the classroom with practical application and skills development in a professional setting.

Commonly offered: This course is very likely to be offered in the next one to three years. Despite being fifty-one percent of the population, women have often been ignored in the public policymaking process in the …

A small experiential learning class in the spring for UW-Madison undergraduates who are interested in health policy.