Lesson Plans

The lesson plans, syllabi, exercises and ideas for teaching were submitted by other researchers and teachers in the field. They were posted with the original author's permission. Feel free to utilize these resources in your own classes.

We invite you to submit your own curriculum in public policy and American politics, especially if it uses the Policy Agendas Project data sets and resources.

Research Programs | Undergraduate Courses | Graduate Courses

Research Programs

Center for American Politics and Public Policy - Undergraduate Fellows Program

Instructor's Comments: The Fellows program is a year long undergraduate experience in political science research. Fellows conduct an original research project which is formally presented at the end of the term and assist in the development of the Policy Agendas Project. To supplement the program, we have developed short, seminar-style workshops in basic research and quantitative methods. Check back soon for more workshops!

Introduction to the Policy Agendas Project's Website
This short exercise will help students as they explore the resources available through the Policy Agendas Website including the publications page and analysis tools.
Handout | Contact ampol@gov.utexas.edu

Workshop 1 - Introduction to Research Design
In this workshop, students will be introduced to key aspects of social science research. Topics include modeling, reliability and validity, variables, operationalization and the research process. Workshop materials include a handout which outlines these issues and a worksheet to completed by the student.
Handout | Worksheet | Contact ampol@gov.utexas.edu

Workshop 2 - Introduction to Quantitative Methods
This workshop explores the vast field of quantitative methods. Important concepts such as statistical significance, measures of central tendency and dispersion, regression analysis, correlation, among others, are explored. Step-by-step instructions for using SPSS to conduct basic analyses as well as assistance in interpretation are provided. Practice dataset available to download in Excel format. Note: Variables are defined in the worksheet.
Handout | Worksheet | Dataset (.xls) | Contact ampol@gov.utexas.edu

Workshop 3 - Library Research in Political Science
This workshop will instruct students on many research tools, including web delivered resources like Lexis-Nexis and Thomas and government publications. Workshop handout is meant to be supplemented by instruction by a librarian on searching for articles, data and orignal sources.
Handout | Contact ampol@gov.utexas.edu

Research in Public Policy

Submitted by Frank Baumgartner, Penn State University [Syllabus]

Instructor Comments:This course focuses on the development of research skills for students of political science and sociology. Students complete an individualized research project on public policy and social movement organizations. Course website includes additional information, including readings and exercises.

Public Policy in Pennsylvania: Building the First State Database

Submitted by Joesph P. McLaughlin, Temple University [Syllabus]

Instructor's Comments: Students accepted into this course will study the punctuated equilirium theory of American public policy, gain practical experience and training in abstracting and coding state government records and news reports, learn to use the web accessible national public policy database, the Policy Agendas Project, constructed by Professors Frank Baumgartner and Bryan D. Jones, and write a term paper based on original research using the national database to study policy issues in which state and local governments are also involved.

Temple University's Department of Political Science is leading a five-university effort to construct the first state version of the national database. As participants in the Pennsylvania Policy Database Project, students will write abstracts of state bills, laws, legislative committee hearings, studies and reports commissioned by the legislature, Pennsylvania Supreme and Commonwealth Court decisions, and newspaper accounts of state government activity. Students will also code these record abstracts according to main and subtopic codes used in the Policy Agendas Project. See the course syllabus for more details about course readings.

Undergraduate Courses

American Public Policy

Submitted by Bryan Jones, University of Washington [Syllabus]

Instructor's Comments: This course introduces students to important topics and theories in American Public Policy, emphasizing the role of information in agenda setting and legislative change. See the course website for a list of relevant readings and analytic exercises for students.

Public Policy and Agenda-Setting

Submitted by Frank Baumgartner, Penn State University [Syllabus]

Instructor's Comments: This course focuses on the politics of public policy and agenda-setting. Major policy activities of US federal government are discussed. The Policy Agendas Project's website is used extensively, including a final paper utilizing the data analysis tools.

Graduate Courses

The Policy Process and Democracy

Submitted by George Busenberg, University of Colorado - Denver [Syllabus]

The course provides an introduction to theoretical and applied studies of the policy process in modern democracies. The class is structured around three classic texts that examine different aspects of the policy process. The course also explores the applications of policy theory to major issues in public affairs (including energy, natural resources and the environment, defense, fiscal affairs, local governance, intergovernmental relations, comparative policy studies, and international).

Public Policy and Agenda Setting

Submitted by Frank Baumgartner, Penn State University [Syllabus]

This is a graduate course on agenda-setting. The course draws from a variety of disciplines including, economics, sociology, psychology, physics, computer science, math, and paleobiology in an attempt to better understand contemporary models of agenda setting.

Introduction to Policy and Governance

Instructor's Comments: I require students to write three papers (each of limited length); each applies the literature from a section of the syllabus to an analysis of a policy problem they select. Each of the three papers deals with the same policy problem; that is, the papers are sequential and accumulative (this lays the foundation, it is hoped, for research papers in subsequent courses, or for conference papers). These assignments makes them focus on something early, in their first semester here (this is a required first-semester course). After reading Policy Dynamics, I require them to import data from your website, and/or create data using the same procedures. For the last paper, I require them to construct/select a theoretical framework from the literature they've read (and to add some readings to what's in the syllabus), apply the framework to their policy problem/issue; and in all cases they must bring some analysis of data to the table. This, of course is where Policy Dynamics is so helpful, in fact essential. Before that book, it was extremely difficult to make them take the data requirement as seriously. With Policy Dynamics , it's practically handed to them (some of the data, depending on their topic, and always the procedures involved in constructing data), so they can't wriggle out.