Public policy is about solving problems affecting people in society. Writing and speaking are not sufficient to make public policy, but they are necessary. Effective communication produces useful information and also makes information intelligible in context.  Practitioners require analytical and communication skills of a high order, and the aim of this course is to provide practical experience and understanding of key aspects of public communication, especially how to recognise and write effective English. The broad area of public communication as a distinct field will be traversed, and students will work with key texts with a view to understanding how and why they are effective. Practical, hands-on workshops will introduce students to a range of analytical and critical skills, and students will be required to use this knowledge in practical writing and critical exercises.  In public policy communication, what matters most is not how much you know but rather how much your readers and listeners know after they have read or heard what you have produced. This is not a course about writing internal bureaucratic minutes and memos for ministers,  but with a focus on preparing public documents for public consumption. It is not a course in 'writing for the public service'.

On completion of this practical, experiential and interactive course students will:

• Be familiar with the principles of clear writing
• Understand more clearly the role of communication in public policy
• Have a general ability to evaluate a communication’s potential impact
• Have developed an ability to consider contexts rhetorically, strategically and ethically
• Have acquired a critical ability to  distinguish good writing from bad
• Have learnt critical analytical skills in evaluating writing and communication
• Have been required to demonstrate effective writing
• Have acquired an understanding of the uses and purposes to which writing is directed, and
• Have honed skills in practical writing exercises.

Students will be required to submit a major paper (50%)

An article will be distributed for critical analysis (20%)

A short reflective paper on the course (30%)    

The course requires 30 contact hours.

5000 words of assessable written tasks.

A Bachelor degree.

Catherine Smith, Writing Public Policy, OUP