Public Policy

Public Policy. Playing a central role in government.

Faculty Chairs: Jennifer Hochschild & Josh Kertzer 

Overview: Public policy is a vibrant interdisciplinary field in which political science plays a central role. Political science research on policy addresses both normative and empirical questions: What kind of policies should be adopted to achieve our goals and to express our values? How and why do policy makers decide which goals to pursue? Why do policies vary so widely? Under what conditions do they work well? Many faculty in the Government Department do research on policy questions and teach courses that address a wide range of policy arenas.  

Studying the politics of public policy can help students become more effective policy makers. The Government Department’s new public policy program is designed to help students with policy interests tailor their concentration to gain a good foundation in political science while also developing expertise in a specific policy arena. It provides training useful for careers in government, international organizations, non-profits, and think tanks.  

Requirements: Four courses out of the ten courses required for the concentration: 

• 1 course on ethics and public policy chosen from the list below. 
• 3 courses on politics and analysis related to a specific policy arena chosen from the list below. To take advantage of the diversity within political science, we encourage students to enroll in courses that take different analytical approaches to the topic—from different subfields, or that take different theoretical approaches. Some courses at the Harvard Kennedy School also count toward the program.

All four courses must be taken for a letter grade (except for courses taken during Spring 2020, when emergency satisfactory/unsatisfactory grading was in effect). 

Individual Plan of Study: Students are asked to write an individual plan of study in consultation with their Concentration Advisers and faculty mentors. In this plan, students identify the policy focus they want to pursue, their educational goals, and the courses that will help them develop this expertise. In addition to courses in the Government Department, we also encourage them to take related courses in other fields, whether through a secondary concentration or through some of their elective courses. 

Possible Areas of Focus: (Students can propose additional topics) 

• Social Policy: Education, Welfare, Immigration, Health Care, Criminal Justice 
• Economic Policy: Development, Globalization, Environment 
• Foreign Policy: Security, Trade, Finance, Human Rights 

Courses Approved for the Public Policy Curricular Program

Courses offered in AY 2024-2025 are highlighted in bold below.

Ethics & Public Policy Courses

• Gen Ed 1058: Tech Ethics: AI, Biotech and the Future of Human Nature. Michael Sandel
• Gen Ed 1181: Meritocracy and its Critics. Michael Sandel
• Gen Ed 1200: Justice. Michael Sandel
• Gov 94ab: The Theory and Practice of Civil-Military Relations. Avishay Ben Sasson-Gordis
• Gov 94bh: Ethics & Public Policy. Eric Beerbohm 
• Gov 94ca: Casino Capitalism: Gambling, Finance, and the Ethic of Speculation. Michael Sandel 
• Gov 94em: Crime, Responsibility, and the Law. Gabriel Katsh 
• Gov 94gk: The Politics and Ethics of Health Care. Gabriel Katsh 
• Gov 94km: Moral Life During War 
• Gov 94ms: The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. Michael Sandel
• Gov 94pn: The Politics of Nature. Amy Chandran
• Gov 1033: Educational Justice. Meira Levinson 
• Gov 1041: Justice by Means of Democracy. Danielle Allen 
• Gov 1049: Ethics & Public Policy
• Gov 1029: Feminist Political Thought. Katrina Forrester
• Gov 1734: Ethics & War. Stephen Rosen 

Courses on the Politics of Policy Making & Policy Analysis: 

• Gen Ed 1052: Race in a Polarized America. Jennifer Hochschild  
• Gen Ed 1092: American Society and Public Policy. Theda Skocpol and Mary Waters
• Gov 93cj: Public Policy Practicum. Jennifer Halen
• Gov 94ach: Politics of Inequality in Latin America. Alisha Holland
• Gov 94au: Political Economy. Torben Iversen
• Gov 94bd: Fighting Poverty. Nara Dillon
• Gov 94bf: #AbolishPolice: The Politics of Public Safety in the Age of Social Media. Jennifer Halen  
• Gov 94bk: Democratic Citizenship and Education. Katherine Bickmore
• Gov 94ek: Globalization and Private Governance. Michael Hiscox
• Gov 94ia: Sino-US Relations in an Era of Rising Chinese Power. Iain Johnston
• Gov 94nc: International Security. Jack Huguley
• Gov 94oa: Inequality and American Democracy. Theda Skocpol  
• Gov 94ol: Artificial Intelligence: Sociolegal Dilemmas and Policy Design. Ofrit Liviatan.
• Gov 94tw: Housing Policy and Urbanization in the United States. Shanna Weitz
• Gov 94wt: The Politics of Urban Inequality in the United States. Shanna Weitz 
• Gov 94hj: Technically Justice? The Politics of Technology and Criminal Justice Reform. Jennifer Halen  
• Gov 94jh: American Cyber Politics. Jennifer Halen
• Gov 94ka: New Insights into North Korea. John Park
• Gov 94na: Japan and Globalization. Nicholas Fraser
• Gov 94nb: Capital, Ideas, and Development in Latin America. Dan Epstein
• Gov 94pf: The Great Food Transformation. Sparsha Saha 
• Gov 94rg: A Revolt against Globalization? How Political Economies Change. Peter Hall
• Gov 1108: The Politics of Economic Inequality. Thomas Remington 
• Gov 1114: Law and Inequality. Alisha Holland  
• Gov 1142: Principles of Public Policy. Mireille Paquet 
• Gov 1135: Politics of Development in Africa. Pia Raffler
• Gov 1318: The Great Food Transformation. Sparsha Saha
• Gov 1368: The Politics of American Education. Paul Peterson
• Gov 1521: Bureaucratic Politics: Government, Economic, Social and Military Organizations. Daniel Carpenter
• Gov 1722: Politics of the Environment and Climate Change. Stephen Ansolabehere
• Gov 1735: Controlling the World’s Most Dangerous Weapons. Matthew Bunn  
• Gov 1737: Evaluating the Impacts of Public Policies: How to Design and Implement Randomized Controlled Trials. Michael Hiscox  
• Gov 1740: International Law. Christoph Mikulaschek  
• Gov 1754: Science, Technology, and National Security: Japan in Global Perspective. Matthew Brummer
• Gov 1759: Behavioral Insights and Public Policy: Nudging for Good. Michael Hiscox  
• Gov 1780: International Political Economy. Jeffry Frieden
• Gov 1790: American Foreign Policy. Joshua Kertzer 
• Gov 1796: Central Challenges of American National Security, Strategy, and the Press. Graham Allison  
• Gov 1982: Chinese Foreign Policy, 1949-2017. Iain Johnston
• Gov 2114: The Politics of Health Care in Canada and the US. Antonia Maioni
• Gov 2490 (cross-listed as HKS SUP 448): Political Economy of the School. Paul Peterson
• HKS BGP 100: Business-Government Relations. Roger Porter  
• HKS DPI 122: Politics and American Public Policy. David King  
• HKS DPI 391: Race, Inequality and American Democracy. Khalil Muhammad  
• HKS DPI 415: Comparative Politics and Policy. Pippa Norris  
• HKS IGA 103: Global Governance. Kathryn Sikkink  
• HKS DEV 308: Social Institutions and Economic Development. Michael Woolcock 

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Public Policy Faculty