DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON
POLI 364: PUBLIC POLICY PROCESS IN GHANA
COURSE
OUTLINE AND READINGS: SECOND SEMESTER, 2013/2014
LECTURERS: DR. EVANS
AGGREY-DARKOH
COURSE DESCRIPTION AND
OBJECTIVES:
The course introduces students to the dynamics of the policy process
in Ghana. It examines the interplay of contextual variables and actors that
shape public policies in Ghana. The course underscores the complex nature of
public policy making in the Third World in general and Ghana in particular.
At the end of the course, students should be able to:
·
Explain the concept of public
policy and the policy making cycle in Ghana.
·
Examine the constitutional
basis of public policies in Ghana.
·
Discuss the critical role of
the public bureaucracy in the making of public policies.
·
Identify the key actors in the
policy process in Ghana.
·
Critically evaluate the
contributions of political institutions to public policy making in Ghana.
·
Identify and evaluate the
contributions of thinks tanks in the shaping of public policies.
·
Discuss the challenges to
effective public making in Ghana.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
1.
There will be thirteen weeks of
lectures. Full participation in the lectures is a prerequisite for admission
into the final examinations.
2.
Each student must attend
tutorials each week to be organized by tutorial assistants. Students are
advised to effectively participate in the discussions. It must be emphasized
that tutorials are not second lectures.
3.
Most of the reading materials exist in the
Department of Political Science Library and the Balme Library. Some of the core
readings are available in the General Office of the Department of the Political
Science. It imperative for students to
read the materials much more intently in order to identify the hidden truths in
the literature (read with understanding).
4.
The assessment of this course
will be done in two phases: interim assessment (30%) and a final examination
(70%).
COURSE OUTLINE AND READING
LIST
1. Public Policy Process in
Ghana
A. Adolino and C.H. Blake,
Comparing Public Policies, Issues and
Choices in Six Industrial Countries, (Washington DC: Congressional
Quarterly Press, 2000).
Dror, Yehezkiel, Public Policy
Re-examined, (Scranton: Chandler, 1968).
Dye, Thomas R., Understanding Public Policy, 9th
Edition, (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1998).
Anderson, James E. Public
Policy Making: An Introduction 7th Edition, (Boston: Wadsworth,
2011).
Mensah, Joseph, “The Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme and the
Health Care Needs of Ghanaians” in Korbla P. Puplampu and Wisdom J. Tetteh
(eds.), The Public Sphere and the
Politics of Survival: Voice, Sustainability and Public Policy in Ghana,
(Accra: Woeli Publishing Services, 2010).
2.
The Constitutional Basis of Public Policy in Ghana
Republic
of Ghana, Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, (Accra: Ghana Publishing
Corporation, 1992), Chapters 6, 8, 10&11
J. R. A. Ayee,
“Enhancing the Policy-Making Process: The Executive President Under Ghana’s
Fourth Republican Constitution” Journal
of Management Studies, Third Edition Series, Vol. 10 (January-December,
1993).
Mark Turner and David
Hulme, Governance Administration and Development: Making the State Work, (New
York: Palgrave, 1997).
3.
The Bureaucracy and the Policy Process in Ghana
Oluwu Dele, “Redesigning
African Civil Service Reforms”, Journal
of Modern African Studies, (Vol. 6 No. 1, 2001)
Alex Glover Quartey, The Ghana
Civil Service: Engine for Development or Impediment? (Accra: Woeli Publishers Services, 2007).
J.R.A Ayee, “Civil Service Reform in n Ghana: A Case Study of
Contemporary Reforms Problems in Africa”, African
Journal of Political Science, (Vol. 18 No. 1, 1999).
4. Political Institutions and
Public Policy making in Ghana
Ala-Adjetey Peter, Reflections
on the Effectiveness of the Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana,
(Accra: CDD Publication, 2006).
Ayee J.R.A., “Governance, Institutional Reform and Policy Outcomes”,
in Dele Oluwu and Soumana Sako (eds.), Better Governance and Public Policy, Capacity
Building for Democratic Renewal in Africa,(Bloomfield: Kumarian Press,
2002).
Barkan, Joel D., Emerging
Legislature or Rubber Stamp? The South African National Assembly after Ten
Years of Democracy, (CSSR Working Papers, No. 134, 2005).
Barkan,Joel D. “African Legislature and the ‘’Third Wave’’
of Democratization in Joel
D. Barkan (ed.), Legislative
Power in Emerging African Democracies, (Boulder: Lynne Reinner Publishers,
2009).
Ninsin, Kwame A., Executive-
Parliament Interface in the Legislative Process, 1993-2006: A Synergy of Powers?
IDEG (Accra: Woeli Publishing Services, 2008).
5. Think Tanks and the
Shaping of Public Policies in Ghana
Frank Louis Kweku Ohemeng, “Getting the State Right: Think Tanks and
the Dissemination of New Public Management Ideas in Ghana”, The Journal of Modern African Studies, (Vol.
43 No. 3 Cambridge University Press, 2005).
Kwame Boafo-Arthur “Structural Adjustment Programmes in Ghana:
Interrogating PNDC’s Implementation” Journal
of African Policy Review, (Vol. No. 1 1999).
Gyimah Boadi E. Economic Recovery and Politics in PNDC’s Ghana”, Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative
Politics, (Vol. 28 No. 3, 1990).
Peter Dorey, Policy Making in
Britain: An Introduction, (London: Sage Publications, 2005).
6. The Challenges of Public
Policy in Ghana
J. R.A. Ayee, Saints,
Wizards, Demons and Systems: Explaining the Success and Failures of Public
Policies and Programmes, (Accra: Ghana University Press, 2000).
J. R. A. Ayee,
“Enhancing the Policy-Making Process: The Executive President Under Ghana’s
Fourth Republican Constitution” Journal
of Management Studies, Third Edition Series, Vol. 10 (January-December,
1993).
T.B. Smith, Analysis of
Policy Failure: A Three Dimensional Framework”, Indian Journal of Public Administration,
Vol. XXXV, No. 4 ( April –June, 1989).
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