Theoretical Approaches to the Policy Process - JSM704

• Title: Theoretical Approaches to the Policy Process
• Form of teaching: lecture+practicals
• Guaranteed by: Department of Public and Social Policy (23-KVSP)
• Faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences
• Actual: from 2026
• Duration in semesters: 1
• Semester: summer
• E-Credits: 8
• Examination process: summer s.:
• Hours per week, examination: summer s.:1/1, MC [HT]
• Capacity: unlimited / unknown (16)
• Maximum number of enrolled students: 16
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Repeated enrollment: 2 / 2 / 1 / 2
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment; priority enrollment if the course is part of the study plan
• Guarantor: PhDr. Vilém Novotný, Ph.D.
• Teacher(s): PhDr. Vilém Novotný, Ph.D.

Annotation

The project-oriented course is designed to deepen understanding of the policy process within a context of democratic governance. The course connect theoretical thinking about the policy process to practical application in public policies. The course addresses the interaction of political dimensions of democratic governance concerning polity (institutions political system democracy, ideas, language) and politics (interaction of collective and individual actors) with the policy process. This connection is illustrated by a more detailed examination of several policy process frameworks (stage heuristics, IADF, NPF, ACF, and MSF) and their application to practice using case studies. In practical perspective, the course intends to lead students to convey theoretical findings into practice and back, and to engage them in critical thinking, argumentation, and studying of public policy issues.

Last update: Novotný Vilém, PhDr., Ph.D. (01.02.2026)

Literature

Essential literature:

Weible, Christopher (ed.) Theories of the Policy Process. 5th Edition. Boulder, Col.: Westview Press, 2023.

Weible, Chris & Cairney, Paul (eds.). Practical Lessons from Policy Theories. Bristol: Policy Press, 2021.

Weible, Christopher & Workman, Samuel (eds.) Methods of the Policy Process. 1st Edition. Routledge, 2022.

 

Further recommended literature:

Cairney, P. Understanding Public Policy. 2nd Edition. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020.

Caramani, D. (ed.). Comparative Politics (5th edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020.

John, P. Analyzing Public Policy (2. vydání). London: Routledge, 2012.

Howlett, M., Ramesh, M. & Perl, A. Studying Public Policy : Principles and Processes (4. vydání). Don Mills (Ont.): Oxford University Press, 2020.

Sabatier, P. A. & Weible, Ch. (eds.). Theories of the Policy Process. 3^rd Editon. Boulder, Col.: Westview Press, 2014.

Sabatier, P. A. (ed.). Theories of the Policy Process : Theoretical Lenses on Public Policy. 2^nd Edition. Boulder, Col. and Oxford: Westview Press, 2007. 


Sabatier, P. A. (ed.). Theories of the Policy Process : Theoretical Lenses on Public Policy. 1^st Edtion. Boulder, Col. and Oxford : Westview Press, 1999.

 

All texts and further readings are available to students in the Moodle application (see https://dl1.cuni.cz/course/view.php?id=674). 

Last update: Novotný Vilém, PhDr., Ph.D. (17.02.2026)

Learning outcomes

After completing the course, students should have the following:

Knowledge:

- sufficient basic theoretical knowledge of the principles, theories, and their conceptualizations of how public policies are made in the political context of democratic governance;

- sufficient factual knowledge concerning individual theoretical conceptualizations of the public policy-making process in the political context of democratic governance and their applications in practice;

Skills:

- cognitive skills of critical thinking about the context of public policy-making in democratic governance through selected interpretive frameworks of the policy process; the ability to navigate academic research on the public policy-making process and to use, at least at a basic level, theoretical frameworks of public policy processes for analytical purposes;

practical skills to navigate the practice of the public policy-making process in the context of democratic governance and to connect theoretical knowledge and factual information with contemporary public policy practice using concrete examples;

Competences:

- enhanced competences in applying acquired theoretical knowledge, factual information, and cognitive and practical skills to the development of professional and personal capacities of a personal, social, or methodological nature, particularly in the areas of teamwork, rhetorical and formulation skills related to public speaking, concise summarization of the results of analytical work, presentation of acquired findings, work with sources and methods, as well as time and subject planning of studies.

More specifically, students are expected to achieve these objectives by completing assignments related to the preparation of a seminar paper, in which they will, within mini-teams, apply a selected concept from a specific public policy-making framework to a concrete public policy issue and subsequently formulate and discuss recommendations for public policy-makers.

Last update: Skácel Petr, Mgr., DiS. (04.02.2026)