This is a required course for the Ph.D. in Public Policy program and is designed to be taken during the first year of the program. The course broadly surveys the intellectual history of public policy and public administration, the enduring issues that have animated research in the field, as well as contemporary research addressing these themes. The course also emphasizes the wide scope of policy problems, how they are framed, and how they in turn influence organizational structures, policy implementation, and performance. Among the key issues examined are reconciling public administration and democracy, normative and instrumental approaches to governance and administration, as well as methodological issues involved in conducting high-quality research in the field.