London School of Economics

This course provides a systematic examination of the policy process in the context of developed nations and the key theories and models in the study of public policy. The course encourages a critical appreciation of the main trends in contemporary public policy-making. Students look at the different stages of the "policy cycle" such as agenda-setting, implementation and evaluation. Students study the determinants of public policy such as public opinion, political parties, and technology as well as central themes in the study and practice of public policy, such as corruption and risk management.

This course introduces students to the intersection of urban geography and the geography of globalization, with the aim of understanding key references in academic debates, and their relevance for real-world social, economic, and political issues in our cities today. The course offers a critical, human-geographical perspective on "global cities," how these manifest in different parts of the world, how they matter for distinct realms of urban life, and how we can study features of global urban geography. Themes include empires, development, and cities; global cities; "Third World cities" or "cities of the global South"; urban spaces of neoliberalism; new geographies of urban theory; and planetary urbanization. Students examine cases related to migration, sexual minorities, the circulation of ideas, and gentrification. Examples come from both the "global North" and the "global South," with the aim of helping students understand when and how these categories may be useful.

The course offers a multidisciplinary approach to international migration, its causes and consequences, and the challenges it presents to policy makers. Questions examined in the course include: Why has migration become one of the defining issues of the 21st century? How can one explain differences in national policy responses and their limited effectiveness? What role can international cooperation play in migration management? Why do immigrants do particular kinds of work? What are the problems of migrant integration? Has multiculturalism failed as an integration model?

While the study of social and public policy has traditionally been concerned with actions taken by governments, the wider non-governmental sector is increasingly recognised as playing a key role. This course focuses on both international and local “non-governmental organizations” (NGOs) that have emerged around the world to address a wide range of social, political, and environmental concerns. It offers a critical perspective on NGOs in the context of development and social policy, covering both theoretical and policy issues. The focus is on two main inter-related themes: how NGOs serve as vehicles through which citizens organize, and how NGOs are instruments through which states, businesses, and funding agencies pursue their interests.

Democracy and capitalism have had a complex and often conflictual relationship, shown recently in political upheaval amid the lingering aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2008. Market liberalism appears increasingly inadequate as a formula for managing tensions between capitalism’s necessary inequality and democracy’s characteristic demand for redistribution. The course offers a comprehensive introduction to how these tensions have developed in the rich market economies of the world, especially North America and Europe. Students investigate why some are more unequal than others, and how they have responded to the economic and political crises of the early 21st century. Key areas of enquiry include the distribution of income and wealth, the politics of taxation, public spending and welfare, the role of voting and elections, the politics of money, banking and financial crisis, and the rise of populism and political instability.

This course provides students with a deep understanding of how firms develop and sustain a competitive edge. By engaging with real-world case studies, students learn the key concepts and theories in the field, and how they can be used to interpret and evaluate business situations. Paying special attention to the factors that explain why some firms perform better, students understand the drivers of competitive advantage both in the short and long term.

By examining the development of international political theory, from the Ancient Greeks to the present, the course explores and criticizes theories and arguments that have been offered to defend or challenge the power of political communities and explain the sources and varieties of conflict and cooperation that can occur within and beyond political communities. The course examines the ideas of great political thinkers from Thucydides, Machiavelli, and Hobbes to Kant, Hegel, and Marx as well as the use to which these arguments have been put in the world of politics and international relations by contemporary thinkers. These thinkers and the concepts they identify and use will provide us with a window into the structures that shape much international politics such as states’ rights and international humanitarian obligations; the nature and status of international law, and the prospects for global democracy and democratization.

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