Spring 2009 Course Description
Topics in Policy
Please note: Public Affairs undergraduate courses do not count toward any graduate degree program offered by the LBJ School. These courses are intended for students enrolled in undergraduate programs at the University.
Description: The Department of Defense is a large, complex, and highly consequential enterprise: it employs more than three million people, its current annual budget is more than $600 billion, and its activities have huge domestic and international ramifications. Because of the length of time needed to train leaders, develop new doctrines and acquire new equipment, DoD also plans far ahead.
his undergraduate seminar will help students understand (1) what the nation’s defense policy is, who makes it, and how it is implemented. The focus will be on DoD, but with some attention to other key institutions such as the White House and Congress. The course also will give students an opportunity to explore specific issues such as the growing representation of women in the all-volunteer force, the doctrine of preventive war, and the role of the military in nation building.
Course Outline: The course will follow a logical progression from the articulation of national security strategy through decisions about DoD organization and resources. Because most students probably will not be familiar with the military, the seminar will begin with an overview of military terms and organizing principles. Students will become familiar with essential policy documents such as Title X of the US Code and the President’s National Security Strategy.
The Defense Department, like all organizations, must succeed at several key things: it must decide on its basic purposes or policies, obtain the resources (money, people, equipment and information) needed to carry out those purposes, and hire or develop good leaders. These six topics – policy, personnel, acquisition, budget, intelligence and leadership – will be the “meat” of the course. The class will spend one to two weeks on each of the following topics:
Principal Texts:
- Amos A. Jordan, Willliam J. Taylor, Jr. and Michael J. Mazarr, American National Security (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999). Buy.
- Lawrence J. Korb, Reshaping America’s Military: Four Alternatives (New York, Council on Foreign Relations, 2002). Buy.
- Barbara A. Bicksler, Curtis L. Gilroy and John T. Warner, eds., The All-Volunteer Force: Thirty Years of Service (Dulles, VA, Brassey’s, 2004). Copies on reserve in the Wasserman Public Affairs Library.
Performance Expectations: Students will be expected to contribute to class discussions, to write a short paper describing their interests in defense issues (i.e., why they are taking the class), to review a book about an issue they choose, and to take a mid-term and a final examination.
- Class attendance and participation – 10%
- Short paper – 10%
- Mid-term examination – 20%
- Book review and discussion – 30%
- Final examination – 30%
Class Size: up to 20
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