Kennedy Harvard School of Government Political and Economic Development Policy Analysis Exercise Seminar PED-150Y Fall 2008
Stephen Peterson and Julie Wilson Overview This year-long seminar assists students in researching and writing their Policy Analysis Exercise (PAE) for the concentration in Political and Economic Development (PED). The Fall semester has three objectives: presenting research techniques for the PAE, refining the topic, and group discussion of topics and preliminary findings. In the Spring semester, students will finalize their papers and present their findings. The PAE The Policy Analysis Exercise (PAE) is an original prescriptive paper for a client on a significant issue or set of issues. A PAE requires that the students identify and build a working relationship with a client and identify a topic which is of mutual interest and can be adequately researched and written within a limited time frame ( PAEs are due on March 31st, 2009). It is the responsibility of the student to define a topic and identify a client. The seminar will also assist the student in selecting a faculty advisor. The faculty advisor will be the primary supervisor for the PAE and the seminar faculty member will also provide supervision. Students should read the PAE handbook located online: www.hks.harvard.edu/degrees/oca/students/pae. One resource students can use in identifying topics and clients is an online file compiled by Laura Homokay www.ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/PAE/Propos08.nsf. Sessions The seminar spans Fall and Spring semesters and provides a total of 1 unit of credit. In Fall, the seminar will meet Monday from 8:40 to 10:00 and in Spring the seminar will meet Thursdays from 4:10 to 6. Attendance is mandatory and students will be required to meet individually with the seminar leader once each semester. Due Dates The HKS has set four mandatory deadlines for all students preparing a PAE: September 26 Final PAE topic selection due November 12 Final PAE prospectus due along with human subjects review form February 5 Full first draft of PAE due March 31 Final PAE due
Course Materials Eugene Bardach, A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path to More Effective Problem Solving, Second Edition, 2005. (Available at the Harvard COOP). A course reader is available through CMO and select materials are on reserve in the library and on the class website. Course requirements Students will be evaluated in two areas: 1. PAE (75%) The PAE will be evaluated in terms of analysis, presentation, usability and overall quality graded by your faculty advisor. 2. Seminar Participation (25%) This grade will be assigned by me for your contribution to the seminar especially your assistance to other students. Instructors Contacts: Office: Room 108, Suite 100, 124 Mt. Auburn Street Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail] Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 4:00 to 6:00.
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Schedule of Topics and Readings Sept 15 Introduction to the Seminar Introduction to the PAE, the PAE process, and your fellow students. We will use the class to explore your ideas about potential topics, interest in having a partner, and strategies for getting started. Current Issues in International Political Economy (Optional) In this session we will discuss some of the current themes in international development which may provide context for your PAE and if necessary, provide potential areas for topics. The themes include: Millennium Development Goals, Poverty Reduction Strategy Programs, Aid Effectiveness, Aid Modalities (direct budget support, sector wide approaches). The following readings are suggestive and meant to stimulate discussion. The readings are on Library Reserve. Paul Collier, Falling Behind and Falling Apart: The Bottom Billion, in The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What can be Done About It, 2007. (pp. 3-13). Paul Collier, An Agenda for Action, in The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What can be Done About It, 2007. (175192). Erik S. Reinert, Palliative Economics: Why the Millennium Goals are a Bad Idea, in How Rich Countries Got Rich and Why Poor Countries Stay Poor, 2007. (pp. 239-270). Nancy Birdsall, Seven Deadly Sins: Reflections on Donor Failings, in William Easterly, ed., Reinventing Foreign Aid, 2008. (pp. 515-551). David Ellerman, Conclusion, in Helping People Help Themselves: From the World Bank to an Alternative Philosophy of Development Assistance, 2006. (pp. 240-252 and 299-300). John Kenneth Galbraith, Economic Development, 1965, (pp. 1-12; 37-49). Dennis A. Rondinelli, Development Projects as Policy Experiments: An Adaptive Approach to Development Administration, 2nd Edition, 1993. (pp. 28-57; 118-153).
Sept 18
Sept 22
What is Policy Analysis and what makes a good PAE? Aaron Wildavsky, Analysis as Craft, Speaking in Truth to Power: the Art and Craft of Policy Analysis, 1979. (pp. 385-406). Eugene Bardach, A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path to More Effective Problem Solving, 2005. (pp. 1-59)
Sample PAE: Jessica Lin, Increasing Access to Finance for Micro and Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Jamaica, Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago through Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFIs), 2008. For further reference: 2008 Award Winning PAEs (available at www.ksg.harvard.edu/PAE/readapae.htm).
Sept 26 (by 5:00 PM) Topic Selection. Fill out online form found at: www.ksg.harvard.edu/PAE Memo to the class website with topic, description of the client, and the key constraints you see to your PAE. Sept 29 Do We Really Know What We Think We Know: The Gold Standard Shadish, William R. and Thomas D. Cook, et al, Experiments and Generalized Causal Inference, in Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Generalized Causal Inference, 2002 (pp. 1-18). Jennefer Sebstad, Recommendations for an Impact Assessment Strategy for Enterprise Development in East Africa, July 12, 2000. [on the class website] David Hume, Impact Assessment Methodologies for Microfinance: a Review, May 1997. Save the Children UK, Thin on the Ground: Questioning the Evidence Behind World Bank-Funded Community Nutrition Projects in Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Uganda.
Oct 6
Research Designs for PAEs Huey-Tsyh Chen, Method and Theory in Program Evaluation: A Question of Balance, in Theory-Driven Evaluations, Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, 1990. (chapter 1) Huey-Tsyh Chen, The Theory-Driven Perspective: The New Alternative, in Theory-Driven Evaluations, Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, 1990. (chapter 2) Case study from Tanzania: Net Gains: The Tanzanian National Voucher Scheme--Narrative, (Developed by a PED-202 group in Spring 2008). [Class website]
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Sample of research design descriptions from PAEs are posted on class websites. Also review the designs of PAEs we have discussed so far this semester. Due: Read the descriptions of PAEs posted by your classmates. We will be discussing some of these in class. Oct 13 Oct 20 University Holiday (Columbus Day) Research Designs for PAEs (contd) Peter H. Rossi, Mark W. Lipsey, and Howard E. Freeman, Assessing and Monitoring Program Process, Evaluation: A Systematic Approach, 7th Ed, 2004. (chapter 6) Peter H. Rossi, Mark W. Lipsey, and Howard E. Freeman, Assessing and Monitoring Program Process, Measuring and Monitoring Program Outcomes, Evaluation: A Systematic Approach, 7th Ed, 2004. (chapter 7) Tomo Hamakawa and Katherine Randall, Measuring the Unmeasurable: Community Reintegration of Former Child Soldiers in the Cote dIvoire.
Due: One- to two-page description of your proposed research design. Please post on line. Oct 27 The Prospectus John Creswell, The Purpose Statement, in Research D...