Latest Module Specifications
Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Description What drives us to change social and economic structures or practices via public policy? The motivation for social change is often informed by our value commitments and our visions for a better future, however ‘better’ may be defined. However, these value commitments are often submerged by a narrow focus on efficiency or cost-benefit analysis. Over the course of the semester, we will scrutinise the values that underpin policy and create a space to think about, discuss, and clarify our understanding of the values informing policy decisions. The module is divided into three parts. In the first part, we will examine the basis for making some variant of utilitarianism the final standard for evaluating public policy outcomes. In doing so we will explore other dimensions of value that utilitarianism elides or neglects – such as dignity, freedom, and equality – and examine the difficulties of incorporating them into the analysis of policy areas such as climate transition and social welfare. Next, in part 2, we will pose difficult questions about justice and who (or what) is entitled to it when we decide public policies. Finally, in part 3, we will explore the ethical challenges that are particular to public policy making in democratic societies. We will look at the tension between expertise and democratic responsiveness, examine accounts of what (and to whom) civil servants are accountable in a democratic state, and ponder the benefits and risks of new technologies to political decision making. In a democratic environment, our views on what policy should achieve are naturally (and fortunately) diverse. Also, public policies cover a wide range of activity domains and the values that we (as well as the general public, different organised groups and policymakers) find relevant and desirable may vary across different policy sectors. This module does not aim at resolving these value conflicts or coming to definitive conclusions about these questions. Instead, the objective is to equip you with the necessary conceptual and analytical tools that will help you to identify the values underlying public policies, to recognise trade-offs in setting policy objectives, and to think critically about their real-world implications. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Learning Outcomes 1. Comprehend the values that underpin public policies 2. Follow the academic debate around values and public policies 3. Identify value trade-offs in setting policy objectives 4. Compare and analyse ethical positions taken by different stakeholders on policy related issues 5. Apply these insights to policy debates and public policy analysis by forming and becoming aware of their own ethical viewpoints and value comittments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Indicative Content and Learning Activities
The concept of liberty Students will engage with debates, both historical and contemporary, on the concept of liberty. This will address questions such as those that follow: What does it mean to enjoy liberty in modern political communities? What impact does state interference - laws, taxes or regulations, for example - have on citizens' liberty? How might conceptual arguments concerning liberty be relevant to concrete policy debates in education, healthcare or social security? There will be a particular focus on libertarian and republican accounts of liberty. The concept of democracy Students will engage in scholarship on theories of democracy. They will address questions such as the following: Is democracy concerned fundamentally with voting and elections? How, if at all, are notions such as reasonableness, participation and deliberation relevant to the concept of democracy? What institutional mechanisms are required by the value of democratic control? Which conceptions of democracy are more coherent, and how might those conceptions inform contemporary public policy debates? Citizenship Students will engage with scholarship on citizenship in the modern, ethically diverse, democratic state. They will address questions such as the following: What are citizens' responsibilities in the democratic discourse around policy formation? How far can the state go in developing civic and democratic virtue? What about exemptions for insular or minority groups? What kind of schooling is best suited to address concerns around citizenship in the modern state? There will be an emphasis on liberal and republican theories around citizenship. Equality Students will study the differences between equality of opportunity and equality of outcome. What does a just distribution of resources look like in a society that is committed to equality? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Indicative Reading List Books:
Articles: None | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Other Resources None | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||