Assignment questions
Please choose one of the questions below and write an answer up to 4,000 words
maximum. Note that examples may be drawn from policy fields and countries that
you know – they certainly do not need to be UK based.
Remember that there are penalties for assignments that are over length or late – see
the School handbook for details. Final versions must be submitted via Turnitin.
1. Outline the principles by which democratic accountability and representativeness
might be assessed and, using the example of a country familiar to you, evaluate the
strengths and weaknesses of its structures and processes of democracy.
2. Contrast rational and incremental approaches to policy making. Use illustrative
examples to assess the strengths and weaknesses of these alternative approaches.
3. Give an account of the different types of power and resources that various actors
(governmental and non-governmental) can bring to the policy process and explain
why they may be able to have influence over policy decisions. Using a policy
example account for the influence which non-governmental actors had in designing
the policy.
4. Using policy examples, evaluate the extent to which allowing ‘street level
bureaucrats’ to exercise discretion in their work has improved or impeded policy
implementation and policy effectiveness.
5. ‘Why is difficult to reach an agreement globally? By using an example of global
policy that you are familiar with, discuss the challenges and barriers in global
governance
6. Critically assess what is meant by policy framing and explain why it is important in
the policy process. Use examples to illustrate your answer.
7. What are the challenges in evaluating whether a policy initiative was a success or
not?