SOC 180NState, Society, and Public Policy

3 credits · Sociology · Penn State

Alexis de Tocqueville called association the ¿mother science¿ of politics and saw voluntary associations as a pillar of American democracy. These associations must compete in what might be called a moral economy of public policy that preserves the value of equality. This course brings together ideas from political philosophy, history, political science, communication, sociology and economics to address an important question: How have voluntary, nongovernmental associations come to shape and implement public policy? The class begins with the core concepts in political thought and traces them through to contemporary ideas about civil society that span the political spectrum. After critically assessing these ideas, we integrate them into a framework for understanding the process of making public policy.