SOC W 586 – Policy Advocacy – Local Government (1 cr)
Thursdays, 5-5:50pm
SLN: 23632
Course Description
This is the first of three, one-credit CR/NC courses to be conducted in each of the three quarters of the school year. The fall quarter focuses on the nuts and bolts of local government policymaking, the winter quarter focuses on the Washington state legislative process, and the spring quarter focuses on the federal government. The emphasis for each quarter is involvement in the policymaking processes, starting with the basics – who are my elected representatives? How do I communicate with them? How do I get others to do the same? This experiential learning is accompanied by substantive information on how each level of government works and how to be an effective advocate. The goal is to give social workers and others the tools they need to play a part in the policymaking process. Policy materials—news articles, reports, analyses, laws, regulations, budgets, and other related publications will make up the readings.
The Fall 2017 Quarter
Local government plays an important in the lives of people with lower incomes and other marginalized populations. The goal of this quarter is to get students comfortable with city and county legislative processes as well as land use and other regulatory processes that make up public policy on the local level. Students will have the opportunity to explore local policy issues of their choosing, such as living wage jobs, access to transportation, affordable housing, inclusionary zoning and city and local budgets.
This year also marks a City Council election. We will be following elections and ballot issues and analyzing the potential policy outcomes for low income and marginalized populations. This course has three goals. First, to give students a general sense of how local government works and the role it plays with respect to social policy. Second, to give students a sense of how local government and the people it serves are affected by changes in the law. And third, to give students an experience in influencing local policies, so that it can become a part of their social work identity.
