GSPP Courses

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…

"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.

"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 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.

"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.

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 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…

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 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…

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…

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…

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…

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 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 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 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.

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.

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.

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