King Davis

This course explores the representations of race, ethnicity, and gender on public policy. The class acquaints students with how public policy develops and the factors which influence its development, interpretation, and implementation. In addition, the course will discuss the history and theoretical perspectives of race, ethnicity, and gender as it relates to policy.

This course will be divided into several overlapping areas of policy including, but not limited to, healthcare, economic justice, immigration, criminal justice, and social welfare. Strong emphasis will be placed on understanding the circumstances that led to particular policies and policy changes through a racial, ethnic, and gendered perspective. Formal methods of critical policy analysis will also be discussed.

At the completion of the course, each student must be able to demonstrate their ability to:

1. Identify and describe current and historical public policies by race, ethnicity, and gender;
2. Critically evaluate the process through which race, ethnicity, and gender become integral parts of public policy development at state, federal, and local levels;
3. Utilize alternative theoretical frameworks for critically analyzing the development and content of public policy;
4. Apply various methods for evaluating and analyzing the differential effects of  public policies on different populations;
5. Critically evaluate select policy issues in areas such as health, mental health, criminal justice, education, and income;
6. Develop a plan for influencing and changing public policy to promote social and economic justice

Possible Readings

• Tuch, S. A.  (2011). "Whites’ racial policy attitudes in the 21st century: The continuing significance of racial resentment." The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 634:134-152 (March). Special issue on “Race, Racial Attitudes, and Stratification Beliefs: Evolving Directions for Research and Policy."
• Weldon, S. L. Inequality and the state: Gender, race, and class in social policy formation
• Lieberman, R. Shaping race policy: The United States in comparative perspective.
• Framework Institute: Outlining a race policy agenda for America
• Spencer, J., Haslewood-Pocsik, I., Smith, E. (2009). Trying to get it right: What prison staff say about implementing race relations policy. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 9(2), 187-206.
• Carmines, E. G., Sniderman, P. M., Easter, B. C. (2011). Race, racial attitudes, and stratification beliefs: Evolving directions for research and policy: On meaning, measurement, and implications of racial resentment. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
• Winter, N. J. G., (2008). Dangerous frames: How ideas about race and gender shape public opinion. University of Chicago Press: Chicago, IL.
• Shafer, B. E., & Johnston, R.  (2009). The end of Southern exceptionalism: Class, race, and partisan change in the postwar South. First Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA.
• Byerly, C. M., Park, Y. J., & Miles, R. D. (2011). Race- and gender-conscious policies: Toward a more egalitarian communications future. Journal of Information Policy, 1, 425-440.
• Ariela Gross, What Blood Won’t Tell: A History of Race on Trial in America
• W.E.B. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk (any edition).
• Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay, The Federalist Papers (any edition).
• Ian Haney Lopez, White by Law: The Legal Construction of Race, (New York: New York University Press, 2006).
• Melvin Oliver and Thomas Shapiro, Black Wealth, White Wealth, (New York: Routledge, 2006).
• Edward Telles, Race in Another America: The Significance of Skin Color in Brazil, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2004).
• Royce, Edward. Poverty and Power
• Abramovitz, Mimi. Under Attack, Fighting Back