Course content

The emphasis will be on institutions and content in public policy formation. We will discuss central research questions associated with the relationship between different governmental institutions, public administration, the relationship between central and local governance, the development of the welfare state and current issues in political economy. Regarding political economy, the emphasis will be on Norwegian economic policy.

Learning outcome

Knowledge - the student shall have knowledge of:

• the Norwegian political governance system's behavior and central concepts and theories in this discipline
• the branches of government, the relationship between the state and cities, administrative behavior and the development of the welfare state
• the central issues tied to the study of public policy and current issues in political economy.

Skills - the student shall demonstrate the ability to:

• situate political science works in the context of academic history and theory
• account for the Norwegian political system of government and the central subject areas within public policy
• apply core concepts and basic models in public policy in one's own analysis and to evaluate which approaches are best suited for a given research issue
• demonstrate independence in the preparation of a semester assignment which fulfills the basic criteria for scientific writing

Learning methods and activities

4 hours of lectures per week throughout the semester, 2 hours of group discussion and term paper supervision. A term paper of 4000 words (10 pages) has to be approved. The term paper may be a joint project of up to 3 students. A list of possible topics will be presented.

Compulsory assignments

• Term paper

Recommended previous knowledge

None.

Required previous knowledge

None.

Course materials

To be decided at the start of the course.

Credit reductions