NTRES 4301 - Environmental Policy Processes II

(CU-SBY)

Multi-semester course: Winter. 1.5 credits. Multi-term grading basis.

Admission by special application process only. Enrollment limited to: juniors or seniors. In addition to this ten-day seminar in Washington, D.C. (dates TBA), there are required preparation meetings in Ithaca during November and December. Students must also enroll in both NTRES 4300 and NTRES 4302 to receive a final grade. Completed applications due mid-October for required enrollment in NTRES 4300. Field trip fee: approximately $550-$600 for lodging and use of facilities at the Wolpe Cornell Center in Washington, D.C. Offered in Washington, D.C.

C.E. Kraft, T.B. Lauber.

This on-campus and off-campus course sequence focuses on how environmental policy issues move through the federal policy-making process. Students select an environmental policy topic during the fall semester session (NTRES 4300) for analysis during the second part of the course (NTRES 4301). The second session continues course focus on contemporary environmental problems, how they are defined, aggregating interests, agenda-setting, formulating alternative solutions, implementation and evaluation, and roles of lobbyists, advocates, the legislative, executive, judicial branches of government, and other actors. DC activities also include organized meetings with policy makers, advocates and experts as guest panelists. The spring semester session (NTRES 4302) requires presenting an oral policy briefing and writing both short and long policy briefs based on the DC interviews and additional research.

Outcome 1: Define what constitutes an environmental policy problem.

Outcome 2: Describe the stages of policymaking.

Outcome 3: Compare the ways that actors, institutions, and constraints interact to influence environmental policies.

Outcome 4: Analyze specific case studies of environmental policy problems and efforts to address them.

Outcome 5: Prepare and use notes from interviews with policymakers to summarize diverse perspectives regarding a contemporary environmental policy problem.

Outcome 6: Evaluate, synthesize, and contrast sources of information in preparing an objective environmental policy analysis.