New Fall 08 Course on Rawls and Justice

“Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought.” A hypothesis might be elegant, but if it is proved false, then we discard it. Likewise, a public policy might be efficient and well-planned, but if it is unjust, then we have the strongest reason to discard it. If you can agree to that and if you are puzzled by what justice requires, and how it should be applied to policy choices, then this is your class.

John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice is the most important work in moral and political philosophy in the last century. It showed that philosophy can do more than ruminate on its own self-invented questions – that it can respond thoroughly and creatively to concerns that weigh on every adult citizen: How should we conceive of justice in a democratic society? What do we owe to our fellow citizens? This class will critically survey A Theory of Justice and related literature in order to provide a sound introduction to contemporary political philosophy.

Perhaps you care about public policy because you care about justice. But if you care about justice, then you must care to know what it is.

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Jeremy Farris is a currently a DPhil candidate reading political philosophy at the University of Oxford, University College. He is also a Visiting Scholar in the Georgia State University Philosophy Department. He thinks about democracies, specifically about their legitimacy (what kind of praise should we confer on democratic law?) and their epistemology (how are “many heads better than one” in knowing the answers to public problems). He is also interested in questions surrounding egalitarianism and justice – questions about what we owe to each other. He thinks philosophy matters.  (The School of Public Policy at Georgia Tech agrees.)

Special Topics Course: Formal Models of Policy Analysis

Prof. Doug Noonan provides this information about the Special Topics course (PUBP 4803 DN) he’s teaching this fall.

What are formal models? No, you won’t find them on the catwalks in Milan. Formal models are what we use to distinguish a rigorous theory of public policy from fuzzy, informal explanations. Bold assertions (e.g., “only rain can solve our drought problem”) are everywhere, but it’s often difficult to know what logic and assumptions were used to reach someone’s conclusions. Formal models put those assumptions out in plain view.

For example, it seems reasonable that “seatbelts save lives,” especially if we assume that, holding all else equal, people wearing seatbelts are safer. But what if we relax that assumption and speculate that drivers respond to their newfound safety by driving a bit more riskily? Then we might expect more accidents and more innocent victims. In fact, seatbelts might not save lives once we change the ground rules in our model of safety features, driver behavior, and fatalities.

Formal models are useful in understanding the world around us, particularly when we need to understand complex situations. In this course we will learn about a variety of classic formal models, and we’ll custom-build some as well. These will become tools in your toolkit as a policy analyst. You’ll get practice applying these tools to a variety of situations. We will develop the tools together, then you will apply them to contexts of your choosing. Want to study presidential elections? Sustainability? Digital music, outsourcing, panhandlers, avatars — or Milan catwalks? We can do all of these. We develop the “formal model” tools. You apply them.

Within the first month of the course, you will be able to explain why Ron Howard and Russell Crowe — despite their Oscars — got it wrong when they had John Nash tell us that everyone’s best strategy is to avoid the blonde in the pub. In fact, by the end of the course you’ll be able to offer simple proofs about how recycling paper destroys forests, why group projects are doomed, how patent law stifles innovation, why faster chairlifts create longer queues on ski hills, how winner-take-all games pervade society (e.g., presidential elections, competitive R&D funding, American Idol) with potentially tragic consequences, how a little knowledge can be a very bad thing in politics, how anti-sprawl policies actually might make urban sprawl much worse, how banning polygamy harms women, and other topics.

New Course! Media, Public Opinion, and the 2008 Election

Announcing PUBP 4803 SH, a new special topics course being offered this fall.

Interested in Obama, McCain, Clinton, You Tube, CNN, ethnicity, gender, and the social and political future of America? Would you like to learn how scholars and experts in American politics, public opinion, and media think about campaigns and elections? If the answers are “yes”…this course is for you! Students will examine the nature of politics in the United States with a special focus on the 2008 presidential race. You will learn what is “normal” politics in this election campaign, and what is ground-breaking and fundamentally different, all within the context of the latest academic research.

Among the exciting aspects of the course will be a group project, where you will work with fellow students to study and advise (in theory!) the presidential campaigns, acting like media or public opinion consultants while the race is in progress. This is a one-of-a-kind course, a mix of theory and nuts/bolts practice, for students of any major with a great interest in elections, campaigns, and the future. We will work hard and have a lot of fun, watching debates together and analyzing the campaigns, the media, and how citizens respond to the candidates.

The professor for the course is Dr. Susan Herbst, a new faculty member in the School of Public Policy. She is the author of many books and articles on American politics and public opinion, including Reading Public Opinion: Political Actors View the Democratic Process (University of Chicago Press), Politics at the Margin: Historical Studies of Public Expression Outside the Mainstream (Cambridge University Press), and Numbered Voices: How Opinion Polling Has Shaped American Politics (University of Chicago Press). Since 1996, Herbst has been co-editor of the University of Chicago Press series, Studies in Political Communication, Media, and Public Opinion. She was a professor of political science and communication at Northwestern for many years and now is the Chief Academic Officer for the University System of Georgia.

GT1000 Team Leaders Needed

Dr. Barke will be teaching a section of GT 1000 this fall, meeting Tuesdays 1-2.  This section will include most of the incoming BSPP students as well as freshmen in other IAC majors.  He’s looking for several energetic, helpful, civic-minded policy students to work with him as Team Leaders.  He specifically asks for TLs who have ideas about making this GT1000 not only informative, but also fun.

If you’re interested, please email him at barke@gatech.edu.

Your Opinions Matter-Course Surveys

Online survey application is open until midnight Sunday, May 4th.  If you want to share additional thoughts on any of the courses offered in Public Policy please feel free to speak with Richard Barke or if you feel more comfortable talking to another student feel free to contact one your PUBP Student Advisory Board representatives- Toby Tatum or Katie Base.

http://www.coursesurvey.gatech.edu/

How International is Public Policy?

In case you’re wondering where in the world your policy professor is….

Last year faculty in the School of Public Policy conducted research or gave presentations in Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Columbia, England, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Mozambique, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, … and probably many others.

Much of this work focuses on comparative or international aspects of public policy, and many SPP professors are actively engaged in collaborations with foreign scholars and research institutes.

Current students probably have heard about much of this work in their classes and some have participated in international research. (If you haven’t, ask your professors.) After all, public policy doesn’t end at the American coastline!

Should You Do a Minor?

If you’re thinking about pursuing a minor, but are undecided or confused, you might find an article in the New York Times to be helpful.

Some say a minor “is a hidden weapon,” “a good marketing tool” or “diversification of your educational portfolio.”  Others are concerned that a minor restricts your breadth.   So here are some arguments for both positions:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/education/edlife/guidance.html?_r=1&ref=edlife&oref=slogin

Don’t make these mistakes with your curriculum- You should read!!!!

Check to make sure you are not making any of the following mistakes in your curriculum. I am running into some of these recently and thought I should send out a reminder.

1. Cannot get credit for both POL 1101 AND INTA 1200.

2. Cannot take ECON 2100. If you transferred into PUBP with it, we have already spoken about what you will have to do.

3. Cannot take MATH 1712 Survey of Calculus and MATH 1501 Calculus I

4. Cannot get credit for course taken to complete six hour Science, Computing or Engineering requirement unless it’s already on approved list or you get it approved by Elizabeth Miller BEFORE YOU take it.

5. Courses registered for as “AUDIT” credit do not count towards your degree at all.

I am sure I am missing some others, so when in doubt- ask your Advisor.

As you’re finishing your semester papers… be careful!

Sometimes it isn’t clear exactly what constitutes an appropriate citation.  In this era of cut-and-paste, it can be easy to cross the subtle line between inspiration, citation, and violation.  So as you’re finishing your papers in Public Policy and other courses, it’s wise to be informed and cautious.

There is an excellent source for the puzzled –  http://www.plagiarism.org/  -that offers guidance:

• Plagiarism defined , in easy-to-understand terms
• Tips on how to avoid both internet-based and conventional plagiarism
• Guidelines for proper citation, and links to help with specific citation styles
• Suggestions for developing good research and writing skills
• Answers to frequently asked questions, including explanations for often misunderstood concepts like fair use, public domain, and copyright laws
• Definitions for important research-related terms
• Suggestions for integrating plagiarism education into lesson plans
• Tips for creating assignments that discourage plagiarism and encourage original thinking
• Information on the causes of plagiarism today
• Help with identifying different types of plagiarism, in particular plagiarism from the internet
• Printable handouts for students on plagiarism, proper citation, and paper writing

Remember:  as this site says, “Changing the words of an original source is not sufficient to prevent plagiarism. If you have retained the essential idea of an original source, and have not cited it, then no matter how drastically you may have altered its context or presentation, you have still plagiarized.”

Updates on Fall 2008 Course Descriptions

Be sure to check back regularly for updates and changes in course descriptions for Fall 2008 offerings in PST, POL, and PUBP.  We’re adding new courses occasionally, perhaps deleting one or two, and providing new information about listed courses.  For example:

Check out the new PST/PUBP 4803 course to be offered by Jeremy Farris, a GT graduate and Rhodes Scholar who is finishing his doctorate in philosophy at Oxford — a course on John Rawls (one of the most important recent political and moral philosophers) and his work on justice in a democratic society.

Check back often!