Course syllabus

 

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DEVELOPMENT STUDIES PROGRAMME

 

DEVELOP 710: Development Policies and Institutions

 

Thursdays, 12-2pm, 201E-704 (Social Sciences Building East - Rm. 704)

 

Course Outline 2020

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Professor Andreas Neef

Office: Social Sciences Building East (201E), Room 838

Email: a.neef@auckland.ac.nz

 

Office hours:  by appointment only

 

1. Scope and Approach

 

This course aims at providing students with an in-depth knowledge of national and international policy approaches to alleviate poverty, enhance social justice and achieve environmental sustainability. The course will scrutinise contemporary development policies carried out by national governments, international development banks, donor agencies and UN organisations. Examples of policies that will be covered in the course are land policies, food aid policies, migration policies, climate adaptation and mitigation policies as well as ethical and fair trade policies. They will develop the ability to analyse complex policy-making issues, making use of both theory and empirical evidence from specific cases.

In 2019, a major emphasis of the course will be on the Sustainable Development Goals and the policy frameworks that are developed by various national and international actors to address them. Students will also learn how to write a policy brief in small groups, drawing on real cases around climate change adaptation, post-disaster recovery and land policies in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

 

By the end of this semester, students should understand:

a) the complexity and dynamics of development policy making and the importance of policy space, particularly for least developed countries in Asia and small island developing states;

b) major policy debates at the national and international level around poverty and hunger alleviation, migration, climate change and trade;

c) how policy is framed in national and international development agendas and forums.

 

By the end of this semester, students should be able to:

1. explain the aims of development policies and critically assess policy narratives and different approaches to policy-making;
2. to analyse complex policy-making issues, making use of both theory and empirical evidence from specific cases;
3. communicate policy ideas in both written and verbal form.

 

 

2. Coursework (an individual oral presentation with one-page background worth 20%, a group policy brief worth 45%, and a critical policy essay worth 35%)

 

Written assignments need to be brought in hard copy to lecture on their due dates. Please use title pages and headers in your essays with your name and course number.

 

 A) Individual Oral Presentation with One-Page Background

            Due:    13 August

            Length: 2 min + 500-600 words (20%)

 In the oral presentation you will describe the policy stance of a particular development actor (an NGO, a national government, a donor agency, a development bank) with regard to one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. You will supply a one-page background document that presents a critical perspective on this development actor.

 

B) Policy Brief (in small groups)

Due:    1 October

Length: 2,000 words (30%)

For the policy brief, you are required to work in small teams of 3-4 students. Each team will work on a separate policy brief related to recently completed or currently ongoing research in the Development Studies programme. Topics may include climate adaptation policies, tourism policies, land policies, and disaster risk management policies. Students may also write an independent policy brief on a topic of their choice, but this needs to be discussed with the course director.

 

C) Critical Policy Essay

Due:    29 October

Length: 3,000 words (50%)

In this assessment you are required to write critically about the issue of either food aid or relocation/ resettlement in a particular country or in a certain context. You can use some of the following guiding questions, but you can also develop your own questions:

- What are the major actors and various interests involved in food aid / resettlement (in your chosen case)?

- Under which circumstances is food aid / resettlement justifiable?

- What are important principles and effective mechanisms when supplying food for people in need? / What are important principles and effective mechanisms when relocating people?

- Which of the Sustainable Development Goals are affected by food aid / resettlement?

You will be provided with a set of papers for this assignment, but you will need to search for additional papers that can support your arguments.

 

3. Expectations

We treat plagiarism very seriously, so we reserve the right to submit students’ work to Turn It In. Our expectations are as follows:

i) Submitted work is your own work;

ii) Sources of ideas and quotes will be appropriately referenced

iii) Advertised submission dates are non-negotiable (with the exception of serious illness or family bereavement with appropriate documentation).

           

Late submissions without prior written permission of the instructor will normally be penalized in the following way:

 

1 day late = 15% penalty

2 days late = 20% penalty

3 days late = 25% penalty

4 days late = 30% penalty

5 days late = 35% penalty

6 or more days late (work will not be marked)

Please note: weekends and public holidays are not included in the lateness penalty

 

4. Lecture Schedule (Thursdays 12-2pm)

 

Week	Date	Topic
1	30 July	Introduction to the Course: What is Development Policy? What Are Policy Processes?
2	6 Aug	Institutions and Development
3	13 Aug	The Concept of Policy Space Individual Presentations with One-Page Background Due
4	20 Aug	Climate Mitigation Policies
5	27 Aug	Climate Adaptation Policies / Introduction to Policy Brief Assignment
6	3 Sept	Land Policies and the Global Land Grabbing Phenomenon
		MID SEMESTER BREAK
7	24 Sept	Moderated Discussion of the Draft Versions of the Policy Briefs
8	1 Oct	Policies and Politics of International Food Aid Policy Brief Due
9	8 Oct	Migration and Development: Policies and Politics
10	15 Oct	Resettlement and Relocation: Policies and Practice
11	22 Oct	International Trade Policies: Free and/or Fair?
12	29 Oct	Class Forum and Class Evaluation Critical Policy Essay Due

 

 

5. Inclusive learning

Students are urged to discuss privately any impairment-related requirements face-to-face and/or in written form with the course director.