New Student Registration: Public Policy and Governance

PGOV 101 is the minimum prerequisite for all other courses in the program.

Students intending major, joint major, or honours programs in Public Policy and Governance are expected to take the required ECON 101 and 102, and PSCI 101 and 102, in first year.  They may also wish to choose the required STAT 101 in first year, usually in the semester other than that of their chosen section of PGOV 101.

Public Policy and Governance is an interdisciplinary program, meaning that it incorporates relevant courses from other academic subjects.  In addition to its core courses, Public Policy and Governance has designated courses from other departments that serve as allowable PGOV electives for the major, honours, subsidiary, minor, and pair in PGOV.

Students intending programs in Public Policy and Governance may want to consider taking introductory courses in one or more of the interdisciplinary subjects.  This will provide necessary prerequisites to take the allowable designated courses in future years.  The Public Policy and Governance section of the Academic Calendar specifies these allowable courses.  It would be useful for interested students to look at the courses in the Calendar to determine courses that are of most interest to them, which in turn would dictate the introductory-level courses that would be good choices for first year.

For all designated courses, students should note the following departmental prerequisites:

• ANTH: ANTH 111 and 112 are minimum prerequisites for the anthropology courses.
• AQUA: AQUA 101 and 102 are the prerequisites for AQUA 202.
• BIOL: There are no prerequisites for BIOL 221, other than second-year status.
• BSAD: Business administration courses are normally restricted to students in the Faculty of Business. Students interested in taking BSAD designated courses will require permission (overrides) from the relevant department chairs to register into these courses. Pending availability, this permission will normally be granted to PGOV students.
• CLEN: One of CLEN 101, CLEN 102, or DEVS 101 is the prerequisite for CLEN 201.
• DEVS: DEVS 101 is the minimum prerequisite for the development studies courses, though ECON 101 and 102 are alternate prerequisites for DEVS 302.
• EESC: One of EESC 172, CLEN 101, CLEN 102, AQUA 101, or AQUA 102 is the prerequisite for ESCI 272. There is no prerequisite for ESCI 273 other than second-year status.
• ECON: ECON 101 and 102 are minimum prerequisites for the economics courses.
• HIST: 6 credits of 100-level history are minimum prerequisites for the history courses. This prerequisite is waived for students wishing to take upper-level history courses in third and fourth years.
• HNU: There is no prerequisite for HNU 405, other than third-year status.
• NURS: There are no prerequisites for the NURS courses, other than third-year status.
• PHIL: PHIL 101 or 102 is a minimum prerequisite for most of the philosophy courses. There is no prerequisite for 251 other than second-year status. There is no prerequisite for 331, other than third-year status (or PHIL 101 or 102). The prerequisite for PHIL 332 and PHIL 333 is PHIL 331.
• PSCI: PSCI 101 and 102 are the minimum prerequisites for the political science courses.
• RELS: There are no prerequisites for the religious studies courses, other than third-year status.
• SOCI: SOCI 101 and 102 are the minimum prerequisites for the sociology courses.
• WMGS: WMGS 100 is the prerequisite for most of the women's and gender studies courses.  PGOV is the minimum prerequisite for WMGS 304.  PSCI 101 and 102 are alternate prerequisites for WMGS 345.  There is no prerequisite for WMGS 364, other than third-year status.

Course Description

PGOV 101   Introduction to Public Policy and Governance
Complex societal problems require good governance and the development of effective public policies - which often entails close collaboration between a wide array of government and non-governmental actors. But how do these actors work together? How do they define problems, develop solutions, implement, and evaluate policies? How are decisions made? This course answers these key questions and introduces students to the major concepts, theories, and skills involved in the study of public policy and governance. Three credits.

Please refer to Section 9.34 Public Policy and Governance in the Academic Calendar.

Click here to go to the Public Policy and Governance program webpage.