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Posted 6:30 PM by Mark Kleiman
10A lecture notes: First class

What is policy analysis? Pragmatic, not either descriptive or theoretical.
What should be done in the public interest?
How can it be done?
Policy analysis vs. political science: prescribing what government should do rather than predicting or explaining what it will do.

Policy analysis checklist (email out in advance)

Why is it needed? Isn’t democracy enough?

--Not clear what the democratic decision is:
Condorcet and Arrow post or email out brief description of these results
--Citizens might want advice
--About consequences of actions
--About how to weigh alternative outcomes
The background of coercion and the importance of process
Individual rights and “government within limits”
One thing the government could do about something is nothing at all
--Background social control mechanisms
Norms
Institutions of civil society
Markets