Master of Public Administration

The dissertation is an opportunity to explore a public administration and/or policy issue, with relevance to your career plans, in greater depth, under the supervision of a member of our expert faculty. It may take the form of a conventional dissertation, but is more likely to take the form of a research project working with an external agency. The Policy Evaluation and Research Unit (PERU) has relationships with a number of public and voluntary sector organisations who offer opportunities for master's students to undertake an agreed project. This exercise aims to prepare you to independently design and conduct policy-analysis, applying appropriate research methods to examine the core questions related to the chosen topic. Projects will also develop policy or practice proposals based on research findings and you will be supported to achieve real-world impact on policy and practice.

You will be introduced to a selection of key economic concepts and use these to examine critical questions of public policy, focusing on fiscal policy and taxation, investment, social insurance and redistribution.

The module will provide you with an understanding of, and an ability to critique, current approaches to leadership, governance and finance in public services. It will cover organisational culture and change, strategy and performance management, and public accountability and stakeholder management. There will be examination of models of non-executive governance, regulation and accountability, and audit and risk management. The module will cover budget-setting processes at national, local government and organisational levels, including budgetary cycles, financial and budget controls, capital investment and project appraisal, and cost-benefit and cost effectiveness analysis.

This module provides an introduction to key concepts and theories of public administration. You will trace the evolution of public service delivery in recent decades, critically examining the relevance of theory to explain these trends, including hierarchical, networked and marketised forms of organisation and New Public Management.

You will examine recent developments in criminal justice policy with a particular focus on evidence-based or evidence-informed policy and practice. The English and Welsh criminal justice system is the locus of the module, but comparisons with policy in the US and Europe are also made. Starting with questions of how to measure and define crime and offending, the module covers key elements of the criminal justice process and the institutions that deliver it including the police, courts, prisons, probation and victim’s services.

You will examine formative, summative, process, impact and economic evaluation. Most attention is given to counterfactual impact evaluations, particularly RCTs, sometimes referred to as the ‘gold standard’ in impact evaluation. The ‘what works’ agenda has been built on the use of experimental evaluation combined with the use of Systematic Reviews that summarise the available evidence. Together, these are the building blocks for evidence-based policy.

This module will provide an introduction to a range of contemporary global challenges, including climate change, human rights, poverty, and health, and the global institutions and infrastructure that have emerged to tackle these challenges. The focus will be on drawing out the conceptual issues of legitimacy, consent, authority, the nature of the nation state and the nature of democracy, that are thrown up by confronting issues on a global scale.

The aim of this module is to explore the public administration of housing as an area of social policy. The focus will be on housing in a UK context, exploring three specific areas of housing: homelessness, the private rented sector, and gentrification. Through these three case studies, you will explore the relationships between evidence and policy, and between different areas of social policy. From this exploration of UK housing policy, the module aims to equip you with the skills to critically assess global patterns in housing policy and key issues facing housing as an area of social policy.

The placement offers you an opportunity to apply the learning on leadership and governance, and theories of policymaking and public administration in a ‘real-life’ context. You will be allocated to a governance team or a policymaking team in a placement organisation where you will work as part of the organisation, helping to deliver the work programme of that team.

This module will provide a thorough exploration of the conceptualisation, definition, and measurement of poverty at a global level and within higher-income and lower-income countries. You will use the UK as a case study for examining evidence on the relationship between policy, the economy and poverty over the past 50 years. You will then explore concepts of inequality and how they relate to, or conflict with, poverty and examine the relationship between globalisation and between-country and within-country inequality.

“Social Innovation” enjoys increasing popularity among policy makers and academics. It an evocative yet contested term. In this module you explore how Social Innovation has risen both as an influential concept and a policy aspiration. Through the lens of Social Innovation, you are provided with opportunities to build upon your learning about the evolution of public service delivery, to apply theory and to ask critical questions. Real life examples of Social Innovation will be used to enhance knowledge and build research skills.