Leadership & Innovative Policy Making

In this course the students will (a) master key themes in leadership development and policy making, (b) increase their own leadership and policy making capacities through reflection and discussion and (c) evaluate the leadership record of an extraordinary policy leader. The goal of the three-pronged approach is to prepare students for understanding and exercising leadership-executive ability in government, non-governmental organizations, and business. Leadership is the ability to influence people towards achieving a goal. An important part of the SIPA mission is to prepare students for leadership and innovative policy making. In this course we will examine leadership and policy making out of the box as well as inside the box by having students tackle several key themes and some specific questions. The themes include issues such as, are leaders born or made? What kind of leaders design and implement good versus bad policies? Can nudging and innovative policy making substitute for forceful policy intervention? To what extent are economic and political outcomes products of leadership as opposed to external environment?