Public Policy and Administration Minor

To earn a public policy and administration minor, students will need to compete various political science, history, economics, and theology courses. This coursework includes some field experience in politics.

• Introduction to Politics: An introduction to the political dimension of life from a biblically-oriented perspective. Laying the foundation for political thought and practice, the course will examine scripture, models of how the church relates to culture, and examples of Christian engagement with the political world. It will also provide a brief survey of each of the fields of political science and raise practical questions about political involvement. [Cross-listed: CORE 262]
• American National Politics: A general introduction to the American political process–its foundations, external influences, institutions, political actors, and policymaking.
• State and Local Politics: Provides a basic introduction to the political process at the state and municipal level, examining the role of the individual citizen, various groups, and governmental institutions. Attention is given to the special policy needs at the state and community level, their links with the federal government, and the particular character of local politics.
• Introduction to Public Administration: Provides an introduction to the interdisciplinary field of Public Administration. Subjects to be considered include the role of the public service in society, public service values and ethics, accountability and political control of the public service, the budgetary process, organizational forms in government, human resources, principles of public management, and new forms of delivering government services.
• Public Policy: Provides a general introduction to the public policy process in the United States, including an exploration of the socioeconomic and cultural context, the defining characteristics of the political system, and various phases in the policy process. Special attention is given to selected policy issues such as energy and the environment, criminal justice, poverty, health care, and immigration.
• Perspectives in Agricultural Policy: Worldviews relating to contemporary agriculture systems are discussed. In addition to examining historical policies, the participating stakeholder groups and development of domestic and international agricultural policies are also studied. Several views on these topics are examined and a reformed perspective is developed. Two lectures and a one-hour small group discussion period per week.
• Organizational Communication: The analysis of formal and informal communication in such organizations as corporations and institutions. Included will be considerations of communication problems related to grapevine, rumor, channels, perception, power, status, roles, structures, etc.
• Juvenile Justice: Students will review causal theories of juvenile crime and will also examine the history and philosophy of the treatment of juveniles in the criminal justice system and the goals and effectiveness of the system. Promising alternatives rooted in a biblical reconciliation worldview will be included. Problems such as gangs, drug usage, and school violence will also be explored. The emphasis will be on how to be a salt and a light in a strategic part of society.
• Government Finance: A study of government taxing and spending, primarily at the federal level. Christian and secular views on government economic activity, forms of taxation and their effects, debt financing, budget processes and problems are studied. The broad purpose of the course is to help students learn how to apply economic principles in an analysis of the effects of governmental policies, particularly tax and expenditure policies. Emphasis is on analytical skills.
• Field Experience in Politics: Students complete a limited field experience in a politics-related area. The experience is aimed at providing exposure to the type of activities in which political science graduates are likely to be involved as professionals. Three hours of course credit is to be based on the completion of 8 - 10 hours on the site per week plus one hour of work determined in consultation with the supervising member of the political science department for 14 weeks. Deadline for application for the spring semester is November 1; deadline for the fall and summer semester is April 1.
• Diversity and Inequality: Students examine the historical and contemporary factors related to diversity and inequality in North America and increase their appreciation for the contributions of diverse groups in culturally-pluralistic societies. The course assumes that human diversity is created good and explores how to discern that goodness after the Fall. Students assess their own biases in light of course material and increase their sensitivity to diversity.

See the course catalog for more information.