Most people think "policy" happens far away and disconnected from our lives, but some of the most impactful decisions, the ones that determine if you have a park to walk in or a bus to catch, happen right down the street in downtown Olympia. In this class, we move past the headlines to the places where you can actually move the needle in your own community. Whether it's housing, transit, or climate resilience, this is where decisions impact our daily lives the most. In this course, we will explore how to personally engage in the local policy and public decision-making processes at various levels of community and local government.
Students will have the opportunity to inquire into these topics from a starting point of personal passion and interest, field observation, and community engagement. We will practice critical reading, writing, thinking, and media analysis and collaboratively deepen our understanding through seminars, lectures, workshops, guest speakers, videos, and podcasts. We will take several guided field trips to local decision making bodies such as city council and planning commissions, to examine how power is shaped by civic engagement and community input. You’ll learn to map the influence of local actors and see how everyday citizens can stop or start movements.
NOTE: This course, “Engaging Local and Community Policy: Street Level Democracy” is the first class in a two course sequence with "Engaging State Policy: From the Streets to the Statutes" offered in Winter term when the legislature is in session. Students are not required to take the second course.
We meet once per week in person on campus (or in the field) on Tuesday evenings from 5:30pm-8:20pm. In addition to attending class each week, one hour of learning each week is conducted asynchronously -- i.e., scheduled on your own each week. This asynchronous learning consists of Canvas modules (including recorded lectures, film, individual research, workshops, and discussion board assignments) as well as an independent project that will involve additional field observations in state and local government settings.
Credit Equivalencies:
4 - Public Administration