LWP 6118. Law and Policy Debates: Historical Foundations to Current Controversies. (3 Hours)
Explores important law and policy issues that are capturing the attention of our national policymakers, think tanks, and journalists by taking a deep dive into Supreme Court cases and constitutional jurisprudence. Topics include, but are not limited to, privacy, gun control, civil rights and civil liberties, higher education, and other issues.
LWP 6120. Law and Legal Reasoning 1: Legal Reasoning, Methods, and Research. (3 Hours)
Introduces the U.S. lawmaking system, modes of legal reasoning, and legal research. Offers students an opportunity to obtain training in the skills and knowledge necessary to use legal resources and legal reasoning in academic and policy work. Explores basic legal and legislative concepts and terminology, the structures and functions of the federal legal and legislative systems, and different types of legal reasoning used in the three branches of the U.S. government. Examines how to read and understand key legal documents—including judicial opinions, statutes, and regulations—and how to use those materials in policy work.
LWP 6121. Law and Legal Reasoning 2: Statutes and Statutory Interpretation. (3 Hours)
Explores modes of legal reasoning, lawmaking, and policy influencing used by lawmakers in legislatures. Focuses on the U.S. Congress and the judiciary's role in interpreting the products of legislative lawmaking and constraining or influencing legislative activity. Examines how Congress and legislatures develop and enact statutes and otherwise influence policy and how courts interpret statutes and review legislative processes and functions. Explores how to analyze and develop strategic insights into the organization of legislatures; how legislation is developed and moves through legislatures; other legislative strategies for influencing policy, including the federal budget and appropriations processes; congressional oversight and investigations and informal methods of influencing policy; the different types of legal reasoning used in legislative lawmaking; and how to read and comprehend statutes and legislative materials.
LWP 6122. Law and Legal Reasoning 3: The Executive Branch. (3 Hours)
Introduces modes of legal reasoning, lawmaking, and policy influencing used by chief executives and their staffs and appointees in U.S. governments. Examines the constitutional role of the president and how the president employs delegated and implied powers to implement, make, and interpret law and otherwise influence policy. Explores how executive agencies promulgate regulations and how courts interpret and review regulatory processes and functions. Studies how to analyze and develop strategic insights into the organization of the executive branch; how legislation and other law is interpreted, implemented, and influenced by the executive; different executive strategies for influencing policy, including the federal budget process and informal methods of influencing policy; and how to read and comprehend regulations and regulatory materials.
LWP 6401. The Policymaking Process. (3 Hours)
Introduces the structure of the political branches of government as well as foundational theories of the policy cycle and policy theorists, types of public policy, and the dimensions of conflict in creating and modifying public policy. Offers students an opportunity to apply policy theory practically through a proposed thesis research area or through case study examples.
LWP 6403. Global Public Policy. (3 Hours)
Presents an overview of international governance's politics and political economy. Focuses on the challenges of governance in the modern era of globalization, where states and their populations are deeply interconnected across a range of economic, political, security, and social issues and where the lines between domestic politics and international relations are increasingly blurred. Examines complex dilemmas for governance involving national governments, international organizations, and nonstate actors across all these issue areas. Introduces the foundations of international policy with case studies focusing on specific issues at the center of international policymaking.
LWP 6410. The Economics of Public Policy. (3 Hours)
Offers an overview of the use of various economic theories in policy analysis and the tools of public finance. Topics include the theory of public choice; market failure; economic concepts of public and private goods; externalities; and theories of social welfare, political economy, behavioral economics, sources of revenue and expenditure, tax structures, and other contemporary efforts to support social goals. Analyzes how to apply these concepts and theories to a range of public policy and legal issues.
LWP 6420. Quantitative Methods. (3 Hours)
Introduces quantitative research methodology, including techniques needed to explore the student’s doctoral thesis questions from a quantitative perspective. Offers students an opportunity to learn how to move from designing a quantitative study to data collection through analysis and interpretation of quantitative data. Topics include the basic logic of statistical inference, the manipulation and description of data, survey techniques, and secondary data analysis. Covers a variety of statistical methods used within policy research to calculate descriptive statistics and techniques to evaluate the relationship between variables such as crosstabs, t-tests, correlation, and regression analysis. Students apply these techniques through assignments and performing quantitative data analysis.
Prerequisite(s): LWP 6424 with a minimum grade of B
LWP 6423. Qualitative Methods. (3 Hours)
Introduces students to qualitative research, including techniques needed to explore the student’s doctoral thesis questions from a qualitative perspective. Offers students an opportunity to learn how to move from design to data collection through analysis of qualitative data, as well as how one interprets and draws conclusions from qualitative data. Topics include qualitative data collection techniques, including in-depth group interviews, archival research, observation, and focus groups; coding qualitative data; and proper presentation of qualitative analyses and conclusions in formal academic writing such as the doctoral thesis. Students apply these techniques through assignments and performing qualitative data analysis.
Prerequisite(s): LWP 6424 with a minimum grade of B
LWP 6424. Introduction to Research Methods. (4 Hours)
Introduces research design and methods including qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods approaches to law and policy research and analysis. Reviews research ethics and Institutional Review Board processes and policies.
LWP 6450. Public Policy Inquiry and Investigation. (3 Hours)
Offers a practical and theoretical overview of how legislation and public policy are initially developed at the federal, state, and local levels, using a range of research and policy tools. After developing the technical aspects of a public policy proposal, those working for policy change face an array of strategic and tactical decisions about where and how to intervene in the complicated system of actors and institutions that establishes and implements public policies. Examines a wide range of policy topics to understand and evaluate how different policy strategies evolve in the interplay between branches and levels of government.
LWP 6451. Program Evaluation and Policy Implementation. (3 Hours)
Offers a comprehensive introduction to program evaluation methods and their application in policy implementation contexts. Covers the complete cycle of evaluation research, from needs assessment and theory of change development through impact evaluation and cost-benefit analysis. Course work consists of designing evaluation plans, selecting appropriate quantitative and qualitative methodologies, analyzing implementation challenges, and effectively communicating findings to diverse stakeholders. Emphasizes both technical evaluation skills and practical challenges of conducting evaluations in complex policy environments. Students will have the opportunity to develop theoretical knowledge and practical skills in systematic assessment of policy interventions and programs. Additional topics include designing and managing program evaluations while understanding how to effectively integrate evaluation findings into policy implementation and advocacy efforts, including potential application to their doctoral thesis.
Prerequisite(s): LWP 6401 with a minimum grade of C- ; LWP 6424 with a minimum grade of C-
LWP 6500. Doctoral Research Design 1: Designing a Research Proposal. (4 Hours)
Offers students an opportunity to further develop their knowledge and skills in research methodology and design. Students refine and add to the literature review, law and policy review, and methods chapters. Expects students to utilize their updated literature review to refine their design for their thesis research project and to develop and refine the research methodology. Explores relationships with data in-depth: collection, management, analysis, and handling of ethical concerns and standards of rigor. Requires, by the end of the course, preparation of a doctoral thesis project proposal, defense of the proposal, and submission of the student's Institutional Review Board application for review in alignment with university requirements. The IRB application will then be completed and submitted to the Northeastern University IRB.
Prerequisite(s): LWP 6404 with a minimum grade of C- ; LWP 6420 with a minimum grade of C- ; LWP 6423 with a minimum grade of C-
LWP 6501. Doctoral Research Design 2: Implementation of a Research Design. (4 Hours)
Offers students an opportunity to continue developing the thesis project in the research phase of data collection, analysis, and reporting. Continues in-depth exploration of data: collection, management, analysis, and handling of ethical concerns and standards of rigor. Introduces concepts of display of qualitative or quantitative data to communicate data findings in the thesis and best practices in academic writing and presentation of data. Students finalize data analysis and reporting of results and conclusions from research.
Prerequisite(s): LWP 6500 with a minimum grade of C-
LWP 6502. Doctoral Research Design 3: Practical Implications and Results. (4 Hours)
Offers students an opportunity to continue developing the thesis project, including finalizing data analysis and reporting results and conclusions from research. Expects students to work toward a complete five-chapter dissertation (or accepted alternative) that will be edited and submitted for publication in the university dissertation repository. Students prepare for the culminating activity of the thesis defense and dissemination of findings through scholarly channels.
Prerequisite(s): LWP 6500 with a minimum grade of C- ; LWP 6501 with a minimum grade of C-
LWP 6962. Elective. (1-4 Hours)
Offers elective credit for courses taken at other academic institutions. May be repeated without limit.
LWP 6973. Special Topics in Public Policy. (3 Hours)
Covers special topics in public policy. Topics vary by semester. May be repeated three times.
Prerequisite(s): LWP 6450 with a minimum grade of C- ; LWP 6451 with a minimum grade of C-
LWP 6995. Project. (1-4 Hours)
Focuses on in-depth project in which a student conducts research or produces a product related to the student’s major field. May be repeated four times for a maximum of 20 semester hours.
LWP 7962. Elective. (1-4 Hours)
Offers elective credit for courses taken at other academic institutions.
LWP 7996. Thesis Continuation. (0 Hours)
Offers continuing thesis supervision by members of the department.