Examination of societal responses to public problems, including actions by government, non-profit and private sector actors, as well as civil society. Students will examine the roles of these various actors, as well as the nature of civic responsibility. The course will examine the various stages of the policy process, asking the following questions: How does something get defined as a problem that requires a public policy response? How do we think about what the options are for this response, and how do we choose among them? What are the factors that contribute to successful policy implementation? How do we evaluate the success of public policies? These questionswill be addressed using examples of current public policy problems, and students will be expected to engage in individual and collaborative work to design responses to those problems.