GSPP Courses

A systematic and critical approach to evaluating and designing public policies. Combines theory and application to particular cases and problems. Diverse policy topics, including environmental, health, education, communications, safety, and arts policy issues, among others.

Note: This course has discussion sections. Expand the table below to view all sections.

This course introduces a range of economic phenomena that cannot be explained by standard, fully rational economic models, and explores implications for public policy. Why do we vote for social security despite the fact that it reduces our freedom to choose how we spend our money? What would happen to job seeking behavior if we cut off unemployment benefits in multiple steps? Why do fines work better than bonuses (except when they don't)? What kinds of policies should the Consumer…

This course examines the intersection between politics, security, and technology in the U.S. and across the globe. The course is divided into four parts: 1) Technology in Theory 2) Technology and War: A History; 3) Today's "Emerging" Technologies; and 4) Tomorrow's Technologies. The seminar considers work from international relations, economics, science and technology studies, law, as well as policy writing. Topics include: offset strategies, offense-defense balance theory, grey-zone competition, escalation, the economics of industrial policy, and innovation policy. Technologies considered include: robotics, autonomous…

Data science and artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as Large Language Models, Machine Learning, and many other statistical methods increasingly inform public policy analysis to make it possible to navigate through uncertainty about the future. This course develops data science tools for thinking strategically about the future such as decision analysis, discounting, Bayesian updating, trend analysis, time-series and statistical forecasting, causal analysis, systems modeling, difference equation models, agent-based models, game theory models, configurative analysis, stratification analysis, technology forecasting, decision-making under…

America incarcerates more people than almost any nation on earth, yet crime persists, disparities remain entrenched, and too many people who leave prison end up back inside. Despite decades of research on what actually works to prevent crime, policy too often ignores the evidence. At a moment when the role of science in policy is increasingly contested, this course makes the case that evidence still matters and equips students to use it. We examine how violence and other criminal behavior…

This course explores the intersection of space and national security policy, focusing on the impacts of the evolving strategic environment in space. Students examine the key actors, technologies, and policy frameworks that shape the role of space in the global economy and in modern defense. Topics include: satellite technologies, the militarization of space, the role of private industry in the domain, and governance challenges posed by emerging technologies. The course engages with case studies on U.S., Russian, and Chinese…

Note: This course has discussion sections. Expand the table below to view all sections.

This is a course about how to identify public problems and craft policies to best address those problems. The course is designed to improve our abilities to think creatively and critically about public policy issues, whether as politically-engaged citizens, advocates for policy change, practicing policy analysts, or members of one of the many disciplines and professions shaped by public policy. This course focuses on the art and science of public policy analysis. We address the following fundamental questions: What kinds…

"Frontiers" course. Students will learn microeconomic analysis applied to policy analysis and development using graphical analysis, algebra, and some limited tools from multivariate calculus (primarily partial derivatives, unconstrained, and constrained optimization). Some topics will be covered in more depth than in the "foundations" version.

Note: This course has discussion sections. Expand the table below to view all sections.

"Foundations" course. Students will learn the microeconomics of policy analysis and development using primarily graphical analysis and algebra.

Note: This course has discussion sections. Expand the table below to view all sections.

This seminar course offers students the opportunity to develop and hone research skills that can shape campaigns to improve workers' lives. We will address priority questions that have emerged in ongoing organizing and advocacy campaigns led by labor partners. The class will culminate in presentations of findings, analyses, and policy recommendations to key stakeholders. Through a combination of lectures, key readings, and active participation in a "live" research initiative, students will develop an understanding of the current challenges that the…

This graduate course provides an introduction to the relationship between politics, policy-making, and development in the Global South. Sections may focus on a range of countries or countries from a specific region. The course will examine the political institutions underlying the policy process and the role played by groups with diverse policy interests, as well as specific policy interventions. In doing so, we will evaluate the characteristics of political competition and the dynamics of political participation in highly dynamic contexts.

The course provides students an in-depth understanding of key issues and constraints facing top officials in running a city. The course examines the extent cities are viable: can they provide services residents demand and deserve; can they provide for public safety, jobs, housing, schools, basic services, and fill potholes? And there is the public interest question: viable for whom and in benefit of whom? Using Oakland and Bay Area cities as case studies, the course integrates direct front-line experience with…

"Frontiers" course. Students will learn both how to interpret policy and development research and how to conduct research themselves. Compared to the "foundations" section, this version of the course will include a greater focus on the technical aspects of statistical and econometric analysis.

Note: This course has discussion sections. Expand the table below to view all sections.

"Foundations" course. Students will learn how to be critical consumers of statistical and econometric analysis, acquiring a conceptual understanding of material sufficient to be able to explain and translate analyses to broader audiences.

Note: This course has discussion sections. Expand the table below to view all sections.

Data and analytics have become essential for tackling real-world social and policy problems. This course will cover key tools in this setting: data wrangling and description with (often messy) data sets, including data aggregation and manipulation; visualization; and introduction to more advanced statistical programming. Students will explore these topics via individual- and group-based applied data projects, including hands-on assignments during class. The goal is for students to "get their hands dirty" with data and to produce workable-rather than ideal-solutions to…

Note: This course has discussion sections. Expand the table below to view all sections.

How do we know whether a program or policy is having its intended impact? This course will cover the methods used to answer this question. The focus will be on quantitative studies, with an emphasis on the econometric techniques used in experimental and non-experimental evaluations. We will also discuss the role of program evaluations in policy analysis and design and the limits to program evaluation as a tool for policy improvement. Examples will be drawn from real-life social policy interventions…

Note: This course has discussion sections. Expand the table below to view all sections.

This course examines the political and organizational factors involved in developing new policies, choosing among alternatives, gaining acceptance, assuring implementation, and coping with unanticipated consequences. Materials will include case studies, theoretical, empirical, and interpretive works from several disciplines.

Note: This course has discussion sections. Expand the table below to view all sections.

This course introduces students to the arena of security policy. Students will learn the origins and evolution of the governing framework for security policy in the United States, including the post-9/11 creation of Homeland Security, and key methodologies of security policy, including risk assessment. The course will evaluate the variety of scales at which security policy is enacted, from state/local to federal and even international. The course delves into defining security dilemmas of the present: the challenge of securing…

This class examines the racist history of public policy in the U.S. and teaches students to use radical imagination to inspire new policy ideas for a transformative social change. We will explore how the legacy of stolen land and human bondage persist in exclusionary government policies that generate, maintain, and enforce inequitable systems. We will learn from advocates, researchers, and practitioners engaged in the collective process of radical imagination across a wide range of social spheres. Students will come…

Note: This course has discussion sections. Expand the table below to view all sections.

The class focuses on the economic regulation of electricity and natural gas and its role in public policy innovation. We will explore the regulatory rationale in the context of microeconomic principles, the nature and evolution of energy technology and regulation in the United States, and the ways to advance public policy objectives. The class covers the alternatives to traditional cost-of-service rate regulation, the electricity deregulation experiment, the resulting energy crisis in California, and current efforts to reconsider the utility business…

The purpose of this three-session mini-course is to place the current issues concerning American democracy into a larger historic, political, and economic context, and understand the central choices ahead. If you have questions, please contact Aarin Walker at execasst@berkeley.edu.

Course examines current problems and issues in the field of public policy. Topics may vary from year to year and will be announced at the beginning of the semester. Open to students from other departments.

Course examines current problems and issues in the field of public policy. Topics may vary from year to year and will be announced at the beginning of the semester. Open to students from other departments.

Course examines current problems and issues in the field of public policy. Topics may vary from year to year and will be announced at the beginning of the semester. Open to students from other departments.

Course examines current problems and issues in the field of public policy. Topics may vary from year to year and will be announced at the beginning of the semester. Open to students from other departments.

This class explores the social construction of gender and sexuality, and the ways society has produced and reproduced these constructions through public policy. We examine how policy has been used to influence who forms families, how they are structured, what resources they have access to, and how family members share those resources.

This 8-week course builds on the foundational dialogue skills developed in the Fall semester, while welcoming new students to join the conversation. Using the Constructive Dialogue Institute's Perspectives training, the course emphasizes listening, storytelling, and empathy as tools for effective communication in navigating polarization and advancing inclusive policymaking. Students will engage in peer-to-peer conversations, explore divergent perspectives, and apply dialogue techniques to analyze social and policy issues. Featuring guest speakers, co-created sessions, and themes such as restorative justice, bridging divides…

This course introduces students to the main economic theories and related applied work that inform education policy analysis by combining economic theory, econometric studies, and education and institutional literature in an examination of current issues in U.S. education, particularly those issues that are most relevant to urban education. We begin by examining key concepts and theories from the science of child development and from microeconomics, labor economics, and public economics that are most relevant for studying questions in education.…

This course teaches students how to design "tech for good" strategies that are aligned with a company's core business with the goal of creating a positive impact on the business and on society. We are at the start of the fourth industrial revolution - an era of accelerating change characterized by a "blurring of boundaries between the physical, digital, and biological worlds." Rapid advancements in technology have wrought both great social progress and great social harm. While some new ventures…

This course brings students together as a product team to apply data science and analytics skills to nonprofit and academic research projects. Students gain hands-on experience working with real-world data, using both foundational and advanced techniques - such as machine learning, data engineering, and online experiments - to generate actionable insights and solutions. To register, interested students must first email the instructor to arrange a brief meeting. This conversation will ensure that each student has the appropriate skills, interests, and…

In the complex landscape of public policy, causal analysis often tells us if a program works, but rarely how or why. This course is designed as a complement to causal analyses, moving beyond the "what" to provide students with the rigorous qualitative toolkit necessary for comprehensive real-world analysis. This course is specifically built for students who possess an understanding of causal methods but seek to master qualitative techniques commonly used in policy analysis. We focus on the "Capstone reality:" navigating…

Data science and artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as Large Language Models, Machine Learning, and many other statistical methods increasingly inform public policy analysis to make it possible to navigate through uncertainty about the future. This course develops data science tools for thinking strategically about the future such as decision analysis, discounting, Bayesian updating, trend analysis, time-series and statistical forecasting, causal analysis, systems modeling, difference equation models, agent-based models, game theory models, configurative analysis, stratification analysis, technology forecasting, decision-making under…

Discussion and analysis of dissertation research projects, including conceptual and methodological problems of designing and conducting public policy research.

This course is designed to familiarize the executive student with the ways in which microeconomic analysis is brought to bear on public policy issues. You will learn (1) to identify the relevant economic questions concerning policy issues of interest to you, (2) to comprehend the economic arguments that bear on these issues, (3) to evaluate these arguments in terms of their strengths and weaknesses, and (4) when to utilize specific tools and methods from microeconomics to address the policy issues.

In this course, we are going to study the use of research methods, statistics, and probability theory in public decision making. We will begin with case studies of important public policy topics where key decisions depend on the interpretation of results from empirical research or on probabilistic assessments of the likelihood of various outcomes. We will then study the basics of probability theory, statistical sampling, hypothesis testing, and inferring causality.

An effective nonprofit leader must be able to analyze and act upon financial information as part of an overall approach to strategic decision making. This course will focus on the core financial management issues faced by board members and by senior and executive managers in large and small nonprofit organizations. Students will learn the tools and techniques for effective financial management, including pricing, program analyses, budgeting, forecasting and overall business model sustainability. The course will address current regulations and issues…

Demystifying Legislative Drafting is a skills-based experiential course that introduces public policy students to the process of identifying, researching, analyzing, and drafting legislative measures. Because legislative drafting often addresses complex public policy challenges, the process can feel daunting. This course breaks that process down, equipping students with the tools and confidence to navigate it effectively. Students will strengthen their research, writing, and analytical skills; learn to incorporate stakeholder input; and practice drafting and revising legislative language. Emphasis will also be…

This course focuses on creating and implementing change within public organizations through the application of strategic management, innovation, and leadership. We will discuss where new ideas come from and how they can be generated, evaluated and implemented. We will explore, through case studies and real world examples, how leaders (both formal and informal) at various levels within a public organization can make change happen. This course is hybrid.

Want to change the world? Tired of talk of the climate apocalypse and want to work for a sustainable and just clean energy future? This course will provide you with the tools to understand and analyze advocacy campaigns, private sector innovation and public policy to help make the change you want to see in the world a reality. Throughout history, social change campaigns have had a profound impact on the lives of millions - helping to pass child labor laws,…

Inspirational and authentic leaders understand that in order to inspire and earn the trust of others, they must first be willing to reveal who they are and what they truly believe in. Through their leadership stories, they are able to share their life experiences, illustrate their beliefs and values, and inspire the people around them. A compelling story provides narratives, clear images, and even emotions. It helps us relate, understand, and connect with one another in a way that facts…

The importance of the public budget cannot be overstated. It is the essential distillation of the public policy process, democratic governance, and the government entity. It expresses the financial condition of the entity; it allocates scarce resources and therefore serves as the ultimate expression of the government's priorities; and it distributes the burden of paying for public goods and services. The budget is, all at once, a political reconciliation, a snapshot, a forward plan, a management tool, a redistribution manifesto,…

Public policy implementation operates at the intersection of program design, agency structure, and social complexity. This course will apply principles of innovation and public management to help students chart their own leadership roles in advancing government excellence, public trust, and agility. Students will generate their own insights on these fronts, stimulated via prompts from subject-matter experts and immersive predicaments from policy-implementation cases. Each week's session will combine case-experience with lessons from management and implementation scholars. The course's learning objective is…

Energy and Environmental Transitions in Emerging Economies examines how rapidly growing economies are navigating the intertwined challenges of development, energy supply, environmental degradation, and climate change. Unlike industrialized countries, emerging economies are building much of their future energy, industrial, and urban infrastructure for the first time, fundamentally altering the economics, politics, and institutional pathways of the energy transition. This course adopts a development-centric lens to analyze how falling costs of clean energy technologies, evolving power-sector institutions, transmission and market reforms,…

This is the first of a two-course sequence in quantitative methods for MDP students. As such, it has two goals. First, we want to train you to think quantitatively and probabilistically - to understand basic terms, to be able to make sense of masses of data, to make informed decisions under uncertainty, and to have a good foundation for thinking intelligently about the two fundamental problems of statistics, the distinction between correlation and causation and the distinction between signal and…

Note: This course has discussion sections. Expand the table below to view all sections.

This is the first of a two-course sequence in quantitative methods for MDP students. As such, it has two goals. First, we want to train you to think quantitatively and probabilistically - to understand basic terms, to be able to make sense of masses of data, to make informed decisions under uncertainty, and to have a good foundation for thinking intelligently about the two fundamental problems of statistics, the distinction between correlation and causation and the distinction between signal and…

Note: This course has discussion sections. Expand the table below to view all sections.

Graduate seminar examining the role of energy science, technology, and policy in international development. The course will look at how changes in the theory and practice of energy systems and of international development have co-evolved over the past half- century, and what opportunities exist going forward. A focus will be on rural and decentralized energy use, and the issues of technology, culture, and politics that are raised by both current trajectories, and potential alternative energy choices. We will explore the…

This course will introduce the basic concepts including economic welfare, externality, public good, global commons, policy approaches for dealing with externality, and techniques for quality analysis. It will include case studies where groups will design economic incentives and policy solutions to major problems. It will have sections on particular problems including climate change, water and air quality, animal waste, toxic contamination, forestry and fishery policy.

Note: This course has discussion sections. Expand the table below to view all sections.

This course will introduce the basic concepts including economic welfare, externality, public good, global commons, policy approaches for dealing with externality, and techniques for quality analysis. It will include case studies where groups will design economic incentives and policy solutions to major problems. It will have sections on particular problems including climate change, water and air quality, animal waste, toxic contamination, forestry and fishery policy.

Note: This course has discussion sections. Expand the table below to view all sections.

The primary objective of the Project Management course is to develop critical skills and the knowledge needed to successfully define, plan, implement and lead projects. Emphasis on this course is positioned on Project Planning. The course may be particularly useful to students who attend experiential learning programs, such as MDP, where teams of students may need to define and plan projects along their semester or the year. Course content includes lecture notes on Project Management theory and tools, Business Cases…

Delve into the triumphs of public policy in the Global South, with a primary emphasis on Latin America. Uncover stories of social welfare programs that lifted millions from poverty, criminal justice reforms that curbed human rights abuses, and transformative voting technologies. Assess the effectiveness of these policies, and explore the political dynamics that facilitated their success. By the end, you'll gain insights into the symbiotic relationship between good policy and good politics in the Global South.

Introduction to Development Practice is a course geared towards first-semester MDP students to provide an introduction, overview, and history of the development field, including a discussion of the emergence of various forms of development institutions and organizations, as well as key policies influencing the emergence and evolution of the field.

This course will focus on the means and methods of finance applied to social, economic, and environmental challenges facing developing economies. It will survey the application of innovative financing emerging through new products and services, new processes and operations and organizational forms in addressing problems as diverse as entrepreneurial finance, renewable energy, environmental finance, global health, accelerating medical solutions, regional development, affordable housing, urban revitalization and infrastructure.