Final Project

Developing a Case Study

For your Final Project, you will develop a case scenario. The purpose for developing a case scenario is for you to demonstrate your understanding of the materials covered in the course and relate it to professional experiences. Students producing excellent case scenarios may be asked to submit their work to the Public Administration Genome Project (PAGP). The PAGP is an attempt to digitally “map” and employ the full set of topics (“genes”), variables, and interrelationships that comprise all the matters that make up public administration. It is based on the Human Genome Project—the effort to identify and codify 35,000 or so genes in our DNA. Few people would deny that the public administration world—like the world in general—is becoming more and more complicated. Plus, no one could possibly know, much less remember, the many strategies, external forces, and their interconnected impacts that might apply in a particular situation. Hence there is a need for a comprehensive, logical, and readily available system to help capture such topics, variables, and interrelationships. Such a system could provide a rational and scientific approach to public administration and, as a result, further enhance the field’s impact on public matters such as health, security, and welfare. Contributors submit source cases in a partially structured, systematic format. The cases then are placed into a wiki database known as ComPASS (COMprehensive PA Support System). There currently are about 82 cases. The full set of cases presently includes about 15,000 variables and 15,500 relationships.

You can learn more about the P.A. Genome Project from the following resources:

• Dickey, J. W. (n.d.). PA genome project brief [Wiki]. Retrieved May 2, 2014, from
  http://pagenome-compass.pbworks.com/w/page/
  13632527/PA%20Genome%20Project%20Brief
• Dickey, J. W. (2009). The public administration (P.A.) genome project: Capturing, mapping, and deploying the “genes” of P.A. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Your Final Project must be presented as a 12- to 15-page (not including references, title page, or abstract), double-spaced, APA-formatted paper that is submitted by Day 7 of Week 11. Refer to Week 11 for specific instructions for submission.

Case Scenario Guidelines

Select an actual event from your prior professional experience in which you or the organization(s) with which you work developed, enacted, implemented, and/or impacted public policy. If you do not have an example of a professional experience or organization, select one from the literature (i.e., reputable newspapers, periodicals, websites, etc.) with which you are familiar enough to complete this Assignment. Think in broad terms about the definition of public policy. Social change and/or an organization’s strategic agenda are acceptable.

Write a case scenario that illustrates how you or your organization developed, enacted, implemented, and/or impacted public policy.

Organize the case scenario according to the following format:

Background: Provide the background for the case scenario. The background section of the paper must include but is not limited to the following:

• A brief description of the organization(s) involved including the country where the case originates
• A description of the policy issue and how it was addressed
• An explanation of the desired outcome or goal
• An explanation of the action undertaken to achieve the outcome (i.e., was the organization attempting to develop, enact, implement, and/or impact public policy or was it a combination of these activities and what was done?)
• A detailed description of the actual policy outcome and an explanation of the factors that may have impacted it

Variables: Provide a description of the variables that effected the development, enactment, and implementation of the public policy. Use the following prompts to help structure this section. Please note, not all prompts will apply to the event you select.

• Explain what, if any, basic democratic concepts, principles, and processes were involved.
• Explain the network interactions involved, if any, and explain what they were.
• Explain the tools of democracy or strategies your organization used.
• Describe the leaders and explain their influence on the process.
• Explain the ethical concerns and implications surrounded the action.
• Explain diversity issues involved, if any, and explain how they were addressed.
• Explain whether the action presented a challenge to democratic governance and explain how those challenges were addressed.
• Explain the role of technology in the process.

Relationships: Describe the relationships among the variables you explained in the previous section. For example, did the actors in the policy network related to the event influence the type of tools used to implement a policy? Or, did social networking technology used to connect actors lead to ethical issues surrounding privacy? Be creative and think about all the possible relationships among the variables.

Insights: Share conclusions, insights, and recommendations that emerged from your experiences and the development of the case scenario. Include insights you have gained concerning how this case might have played out differently in a different country or culture as well as how the public policy might effect social change.

Bibliography: Provide a bibliography of all works you used in the development of this Final Project.

Please consult your Instructor for approval if the event you selected is not drawn from your prior professional experience.

Your Final Project will be graded on a 142-point scale and is worth 20% of your final grade.

Although the Final Project is not due until Day 7 of Week 11, you should become familiar with the project requirements and keep them in mind as you proceed through the course. Many of the Discussions and Assignments relate to and can be of use to your Final Project.

The Final Project will be evaluated according to all four indicators in the Application Assignment and Final Paper Writing Rubric located in the Course Information area. Be sure that the Final Project is written using APA format.