Teaching Policy Design: Themes, Topics & Techniques

Abstract

After briefly discussing the origins of the policy design field, this paper examines aspects of design paedagogy in policy schools and programmes. It sets out a series of topics which University level courses typically cover, explains their importance to the field, and what is typically addressed in coursework. These include subjects such as: what is policy design and how it has evolved; introducing policy tools and portfolios; issues around persuasive design, targeting and compliance; who are the policy designers and how do they think and operate; what is meant by policy effectiveness; what are design best practices; how designs and designers deal with uncertainty, conflict and controversy; and what are the future directions in which the field is heading, why and what this means for both design paedagogy and practice. The chapter then turns to paedagogical techniques deployed in these courses across four continents, dealing with differences between undergraduate and graduate level instruction, case-based instruction and on-line and distance learning, as well as efforts to integrate co-design and innovative pedagogies including new methods and techniques such as Big Data methodologies and policy labs and experiments.