202. American Political Institutions and Processes.  
This course is designed to provide the background necessary to develop strategies for dealing effectively with the political environment of policy and administration. Discussion of the U.S. constitutional system, its assumptions and evolution, is followed by a detailed examination of the American bureaucracy in its political setting, including a comparative perspective on bureaucratic politics. Finally, the course examines political aspects of policy analysis and program evaluation, giving particular attention to market-like solutions to policy problems and budgeting. 

203. Statistical Methods for Public Policy.  
This is the first in a two-quarter sequence taught in the first year of the MPP program. It reviews basic statistical principles useful to policy research and analysis. Topics include descriptive statistics for sample data; notions of probability; the concept of expectations; useful discrete and continuous univariate distributions; bivariate distributions; the concepts of marginal and conditional probability; covariance and correlations; statistical independence; random sampling; estimators; unbiasedness and efficiency; statistical inference; confidence intervals and hypothesis testing. 

204. Economic Analysis of Public Policy.  
This course is to gives students experience in using microeconomic theory to analyze and make decisions in the public sector. There is an emphasis on specific policy cases involving economic issues or the use of economic tools. Students are introduced to the institutions of public finance, including the municipal bond market, and such topics as valuing public benefits and costs, investment theory and decision criteria, trends in public revenue and expenditure, methods of infrastructure finance and the political economy of public service distribution among and within cities. 

205. Bureaucracy and Public Management.  
Designed to mesh with "American Political Institutions and Processes" and "Policy Formulations and Implementation," this course is concerned with the problems posed by behaviors within and by bureaucracies. It provides students with a set of conceptual tools for understanding the organizational environment in which policy analysts ply their profession and the role of a manager within such organizations. In both instances, it offers practical suggestions for the policy professional seeking to navigate the treacherous hallways of bureaucracy. Readings and class discussions integrate theoretical analyses of organizations with detailed cases studies. 

206. Policy Formulation and Implementation.  
This course provides an analysis of how policy is formed, adopted and implemented, and addresses a series of fundamental questions: How are policies formulated? By whom? How are policy agendas set? How can the relationships between politicians, bureaucrats, lobbyists and media experts be defined? Other issues examined are the impact of public opinion and why some proposals are successful while others are not; the roles of bargaining and negotiation; what factors promote successful policy implementation and how to evaluate policies after they have been implemented. 

207. Political Economy.  
This course examines political, legal and social institutions to show where the United States fits in among the varieties of modern capitalism and business-government relations. Students analyze the major domestic policy options that nations are pursuing in response to economic globalization -- including protectionism, mercantilism and deregulation -- and are introduced to the international coalitions being formed as a result of globalization, including NAFTA, and to non-governmental organizations created to deal with special problems such as the global environmental crisis. 

208. Policy Research and Analysis.  
This course is the MPP program's second core course in statistics and quantitative methods. It prepares students for quantitative studies of public policy, covering analysis of variance and regression; decision theory; methods of statistical modeling for estimation, forecasting and policy evaluation; and policy evaluation techniques. 

209. Management in the 21st Century.  
This course addresses the organizational and managerial challenges and opportunities posed by an increasingly diverse workforce and the rapidly expanding role of technology in organizational life. The first half of the course seeks to enhance students' ability to manage people of diverse backgrounds by increasing their appreciation of their own cultural values and heightening their sensitivity to the unique characteristics of other groups. The second half of the course explores the consequences of widespread technological deployment and the knowledge necessary for public managers and analysts to better estimate the social and political impacts of established and new technologies. 

298A-299B. Applied Policy Analysis 1 and 2.  
This is a two-quarter seminar taught during the last two quarters of the second year of the MPP program. Each student in the seminar prepares a major public policy paper that evaluates a real-life policy question similar to those encountered in a career in public service and offers recommendations on how to address that problem. The paper builds on the students' prior coursework and summer internship, enabling them to apply the knowledge they have gained to a specific situation. 

AREAS OF CONCENTRATION 

Social Welfare

M211. Advanced Social Policy: Elderly and Their Families.  
(Same as Social Welfare M290P).  
The aging of the American population poses major challenges to public policy makers at all levels of government, requiring them to be familiar with aging issues and to be able to evaluate the various proposals affecting the elderly. This course examines the theoretical models and concepts of the policy process and applies them to aging policy; analyzes the decision making processes that affect social policies for older persons; describes the historical development of contemporary aging policy; and explores current policy proposals and issues affecting the elderly. 

M212. Advanced Social Policy: Children and Families.  
(Same as Social Welfare M290J).  
This class considers the broader perspectives which have shaped policy affecting families and children in the United States, focusing on the development of social policy as it affects families and children from different cultural backgrounds and as it is manifested in the public child welfare system. Students will examine the development of programs and policies affecting children and youth in a multicultural society, with particular attention to poverty, foster care and child abuse. 

M213. Mental Health Policy.  
(Same as Social Welfare M290K).  
This course examines the evolution of social policy and services for the mentally ill in the United States. Emphasis is placed on the political, economic, ideological and sociological factors that affect public views of the mentally ill and services provided to them. The course considers how issues of class, ethnicity, race and gender have influenced the theory and treatment of the mentally ill. 

M214. Poverty, the Poor and Welfare Reform.  
(Same as Social Welfare M290L).  
This seminar focuses on the major policy and research issues concerning poverty and social welfare policy in the United States. It provides a descriptive overview of the American poor, introduces students to differing theoretical explanations for poverty, provides an overview of major anti-poverty policies, critically examines the basic assumptions underlying current welfare reform proposals and examines the potential ramifications on women, people of color, children, teenagers and families. 

M215. Health Policy.  
(Same as Social Welfare M290M). 
This course is an introduction to contemporary issues in health care financing and delivery, providing historical perspective on emergence of these issues. It examines major public programs and their relationship to issues of access and cost. 

M216. Public Policy for Children and Youth.  
(Same as Social Welfare M290N).  
This course addresses policy issues that affect children and adolescents in relation to their interaction with schools and the community, with an emphasis on impact of policy across federal, state and local levels. 
 

Transportation and Urban Development

M221. Travel Behavior Analysis.  
(Same as Urban Planning M287).  
This course covers macro- and micro-dimensions of urban travel; commuting and the journey to work; gender differences and emerging trends in travel behavior; the nature of traffic congestion; overview of travel modeling, forecasting methods and sources of data for transportation planning; trip generation and distribution; modal choice modeling; trip distribution methods; traffic impact studies; and critiques of travel forecasting and decision making. 

M222. Transportation Economics, Finance and Policy.  
(Same as Urban Planning M289).  
Students will be introduced to highway and transit finance and subsidy policy, including highway finance and user charges, toll systems and automatic toll collection, federal highway funding mechanisms and apportionments to states; state user fees and disbursements; transit fare and subsidy policy at federal and state levels; estimates of the efficiency and equity implications of existing finance mechanisms; federal, state and local programs for the elderly and disabled, and their financial implications; transportation demand management and carpooling and rideshare programs. 

M223. Transportation, Air Quality and Energy Policy.  
(Same as Urban Planning M290).  
Using case studies of proposals for improving air quality and energy conservation through transportation planning, this course focuses on the air quality and energy consumption characteristics of urban transportation systems and alternative travel modes; recent policy initiatives related to automobile technology, air quality and energy consumption; automobile fuel economy and corporate average fuel economy programs; clean air requirements on the regional, state and federal levels; and the relationship between public transit use and air quality. 

Regional Development Policy

M241. Introduction to Regional Planning: Evolution of Regional Planning Doctrines.  
(Same as Urban Planning N232A).  
This course is a critical and historical survey of the evaluation of regional planning theory and practice, with particular emphasis on relations between regional planning and developments within Western social and political philosophy. Major concepts include regions and regionalism, territorial community, and social production of space. 

M242. Regional Development, Urbanization and Industrial Policy.  
(Same as Urban Planning M234).  
This course provides a survey of regional development, urban economic growth and the geographical foundations of industrial policy. Special topics covered include the organization and dynamics of industrial production; theories of industrial location and localized economic growth; the social and institutional foundations of regional/urban economic systems; and the dynamics of regional/urban development in an increasingly globalized economic order. 

Employment and Labor

M231. Comparative Labor Relations.  
(Same as Management M255).  
This course provides a historical and contemporary comparison of alternative, institutional and policy arrangements in the labor markets and employment practices of various developed countries, including the United States. The course introduces student to the notion of industrial relations systems with various actors -- including policy-makers -- influencing developments in each country, including the impact of global factors such as international trade and new technologies. 

M232. Labor Relations.  
(Same as Management M250A).  
This basic course in labor relations and related public policy issues is valuable to students interested in careers in labor relations or those entering roles in public and non-profit agencies and institutions (including the health care sector) where labor relations and unionization are important. The course employs a variety of readings, case studies and films to illustrate concepts and practices in the labor relations field. 

233. Employment Issues in California.  
Drawing on the resources of the UCLA Business Forecasting Project, this course introduces students to the general features of the California labor market (workforce growth, demographics, industry and occupational composition, long-term projections), analysis of employment fluctuations, and forecasting techniques, including linkages between employment fluctuations in California and elsewhere in the country and social issues relating to the labor market. 

Additional Courses

290. Special Topics in Public Policy.  
This course is an advanced seminar on emerging issues in public policy. Topics for 1997-98 include Environmental Policy; Education Policy; and Evaluation Methods. 

596. Directed Studies for MPP Candidates.  
This course is individual programming for selected students to permit pursuit of a subject in greater depth.