Teaching Public Policy and Civic Leadership in Challenging Times
by Dean Harry Harding

The importance of imparting leadership and advocacy skills

We don’t need polls to tell us that major national institutions—from Congress to Wall Street, from City Hall to broadcast news—are currently held in remark­ably low repute. The balance between leaders and followers has shifted in favor of the latter. Many important issues—from health care and education to financial regulation and national security, from same-sex marriage to the national debt—arouse heated debate and polarized opinion. Powerful drivers are changing the context in which leadership is exercised and policy is made, both around the world and in the United States. These include globalization, climate change, the development of new technologies, demographic transitions, and cultural change. Thus, public policy today must be studied and taught diff­erently than was the case even a few decades ago.

Challenges like these create opportunities; the Batten School is determined to seize them. Social psych­ology is gener­ating profound new insights about both leadership and public policy. Big Data sets provide valuable materials for careful analysis of why some policies succeed while others fail. Controlled experimental trials can provide a systematic comparison of the pros and cons of alternative policy options.

The Batten School is the nation’s newest school of public policy. Our aspirations for innovation and impact are bold. The new policy agenda presents exciting areas for research and action by our students and faculty. New knowledge about leadership enables us to understand and impart specific leadership skills, including advocacy, negot­iation, strategic thinking, and effective, ethical decision-making in situations of uncertainty and competing moral values.

We are encouraging our students to con­sider a wide range of career paths, knowing that civic leadership will come from corporate leaders, nongovernmental organizations, and social entrepreneurs, not only from govern­ment officials. We seek to be collaborative, engaging colleagues from across Grounds and leaders across the political spectrum. We seek to produce leaders who are dedicated to advancing ideals, while grounding their proposed solutions in what is achievable because coalitions and consensus are attainable. 

 

FALL 2013 CONTENTS