Shaping Network Society

The following is a list of courses I teach as part of the graduate programs for Public Administration and Public Policy and various undergraduate programs.

under construction

Current seminars (summer term 2009):

• POLITICAL ADVOCACY AND LEADERSHIP (Willy Brandt School of Public Policy at the University of Erfurt)
• INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC POLICY (Brandt School)

Previous seminars:

• NETWORK POLITICS (undergraduate program Staatswissenschaften, University of Erfurt)
  In the class we will aim to understand and critically reflect the emergent practices of networked politics. Networked politics is driven by technologically developments such as the increasing capacity of processors, the availability of bandwidth, and software development in juxtaposition with transformations in human rationality, forms of legitimation, and political practices. Network politics emerges, when new forms of communities or new platforms for interaction emerge.

• PEER-PRODUCING PUBLIC POLICY (MPP program, Erfurt School of Public Policy)
  Today, information and communication technologies, new management practices, and a shift in how we understand and legitimize collective action, are changing public-value-provision. In the seminar, we will aim to understand the drivers of this transformation and outline strategies of public-value-creation for today’s policy entrepreneur.

• STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION (MPP program, Erfurt School of Public Policy)
  This course introduces students to a variety of analytic techniques useful for policy/program implementation and managing organizational performance. “Strategic Management” involves defining public value, mobilizing legitimacy and support of that value, and developing and deploying the operational capacity to deliver it. By the end of the course, students should be able to diagnose an organization’s strategic position and develop a plan for improving its performance; they should also be able to understand the organizational factors likely to affect a given policy’s implementation and to adjust policy design to produce a better outcome.

• INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC POLICY (MPP program, Erfurt School of Public Policy)
  This fundamental introductory course explores policy-making as both a problem-solving process and a political process. We examine the interplay between policy development and institutions, and review normative and empirical models of policy-making. The course provides an introduction to the fundamental theories, concepts, terms and methodologies associated with policy analysis, an introduction to the basic procedures used in conducting policy analysis, and an introduction to the substantive issue areas of public policy-making in times of state transformation.
• PARTICIPATING IN PUBLIC POLICY (MPP program, Erfurt School of Public Policy)
  The objective of the applied research seminar this semester is to discuss modes of citizen participation, to work on two projects (participatory budgeting in Erfurt and tools of participation for CSC) for two clients,  to understand the needs of the client, identify the challenges with the client, and to present an actionable policy plan. The final document will consist of a presentation (no more than 20 slides), a briefing book with a detailed implementation plan (including milestones, evaluation methods, budget, etc) and a memo to the client.

• INTERNATIONAL POLITICS IN A GLOBALIZING WORLD
  (undergraduate program Staatswissenschaften, University of Erfurt)
  This course offers an overview of international politics in international relations from multiple perspectives. We will aim to develop an understanding of approaches to international relations and how they relate to the transforming international reality. The main question driving the course will be “How can we think international politics in the contemporary world?” With globalization the theories we use to think international relations and to legitimize international practice are changing.
  Therefore, it is necessary to reflect the frameworks and tools we are using when trying to understand and do international relations. The course will consist of a mixture of discussions, in class activities, and research projects. Your participation will make up an important aspect of the class.

• INNOVATIONS IN GOVERNANCE: How Technologies, Societal Changes, and New Management Practices are Transforming Public Value Creation (undergraduate program Staatswissenschaften, University of Erfurt)
  Today, information and communication technologies, new management practices, and a shift in how we understand and legitimize collective action are radically changing public value provision. In the seminar we will aim to understand the drivers of this transformation and outline strategies of public value creation for today’s policy entrepreneur.
  We will be focusing on the move from government to governance and on how internet technologies that are radically reducing transaction costs of collective action are transforming the public value landscape

• POLITICAL THEORY AND PUBLIC POLICY (undergraduate program Staatswissenschaften, University of Erfurt)
  The objective of this course is to reflect the foundations, historical trajectory, logic, and limitations of the study of public policy. The course prepares the students to be conversant in public policy and allow them to uncover the assumptions and theoretical predilections of specific approaches and arguments in public policy and governance that are very relevant for the political debates of the 21st Century.
  Public policy is a fairly young discipline with deep roots going back to the origins of political thinking. Public policy aims to formulate public policy and to evaluate its effectiveness, thereby, bridge the divide between political theory and practice. This leads to interesting theoretical and meta- theoretical tensions concerning the relationship between fact and value, between proxy and reality, and between modes of collective action

• GOVERNANCE IN NETWORK SOCIETY (undergraduate program Staatswissenschaften, University of Erfurt)
  In this course will retrace the debate and demarcate the politics of (and between) historical institutions to understand contemporary governance in network society. Questions driving this course are: What is the historical and philosophical background of the contemporary debate on networked governance? How has our understanding of government and society developed through time? How does the contemporary debate on governance relate to the globalization debate? What transformations can we expect in the future? These questions cannot be immediately addressed; therefore, we will develop an appreciation by debating past and contemporary thinkers.