|
|
|
|
Letter from the DirectorCAPPP has just completed its tenth year of operation. We set out to establish a strong scholarly presence in pioneering study of the connection between the policy processes, based in dynamics, and governing institutions (including the bureaucracy), rooted in 'comparative statics'. This is a new way to think about the interaction of institutions and policy processes, and has led to new theories and methods for the study of political change. In the process, CAPPP faculty have served as PI or Co-PI for over $3 million in grants from US government agencies--almost exclusively from various divisions of NSF--published lots of books and articles, developed two major databases (the Policy Agendas and Congressional Bills projects) and pioneered web delivery of them, and are collaborating with research teams in Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy to build comparable datasets in Europe. We are currently extending the dynamical processes we have observed for agenda-setting into the internal study of bureaucracies, and have received large NSF-grants to study Homeland Security in pursuit of this objective. On the instructional side, Legsim is an innovative teaching tool allowing students to simulate Congress. Our PhD students generally get numerous interviews and often competing attractive offers, while our Undergraduate Research Fellows Program has received university-wide acclaim. CAPPP Fellows work with faculty and graduate fellows on Center projects, and complete their own independent projects on topics from the politics of presidential executive orders to the agenda dynamics of the federal debt. All fellows present their work through poster sessions at the University of Washington's Undergraduate Research Symposium in May. The Center for American Politics and Public Policy was established at the University of Washington in 1996 to promote the study of American politics and Public Policy. We focus on research that relates to public policy processes, including issues of agenda setting, decision-making, implementation, regulation, the development of quantitative measures of policy change, and the role of ideas and dialogue in policy change. The Center is founded on a new conception of the role of centers in university life. Our model is far more integrated in the intellectual life of the discipline of political science than is typically the case. CAPPP serves as an anchor for the fields of American politics and public policy processes in the Department of Political Science. We are an important organized research center, but we also serve as a major focus for the education of graduate and undergraduate students in the practice of basic and applied research. The Donald R. Matthews Program for Excellence in American Politics unifies the study of American Politics and Public Policy at UW. It was made possible because of a generous gift by Professor Emeritus and former Chair of Department Donald R. Matthews to the Department of Political Science. The gift funds a Distinguished Professorship and Graduate Fellowships in American Politics. Bryan D. Jones |
 |
 |
© 2004 Center for American Politics & Public Policy, University of Washington |