The Civil Service and LSE Executive Master of Public Policy (EMPP) includes significant practitioner participation from the UK Senior Civil Service, among others, to provide insight into policy challenges. The substantial co-design and co-delivery elements of the EMPP ensure the programme addresses policy topics of most relevance and concern to the UK Civil Service and the customers of its advice.

The EMPP shares some courses with the Executive MPA (EMPA) to provide common training in core skills that are applicable to EMPA students as well as the Civil Service. Shared courses also allow for networking and exchange of ideas regarding public policy practice between a group of experienced, senior and internationally diverse students.

Students must successfully complete all modules marked as CORE and 2 modules marked as OPTION from the list below.

All of the dates listed below are provisional.

Core (required) modules

Friday 8 September - Sunday 10 September 2023

Each policy workshop applies the analytical tools that are taught in the week-long modules of the EMPP to specific policy areas of particular reference to the UK Civil Service. Teaching is based on a series of case studies.

The case studies are taught by specialists in a particular policy area and are complemented with group working sessions and presentations by Senior Civil Service policy practitioners involved in the policy area.

Monday 11 and Tuesday 12 September 2023

For some of you who have been out of education for a while, or who do not use maths and statistics in their day-to-day jobs, this course ensures that you are ready to undertake the EMPP programme at LSE by quickly and effectively bringing you up to the necessary level required to understand the concepts discussed in the courses.

Monday 30 October - Friday 3 November 2023

This course introduces a range of theoretical and empirical tools to analyse the politics of public policy making. The main focus is on political institutions in modern democracies and how they relate to public policy.

Topics include elections, representation, delegation, accountability, interest groups, legislatures, executives and decentralisation.

Monday 8 January - Friday 12 January 2024

The course introduces students to the quantitative evaluation of public policies. The focus of the course will be on practical applications of empirical methods to public policy.

The course begins with an overview of the key benefits of randomised experiments and then covers a number of other widely used approaches to determine the effectiveness of public policy interventions.

Monday 8 April - Friday 12 April 2024

The course is an introductory graduate course providing an economics background suitable for high-level public policy making. The emphasis is on acquiring sound models and methods suitable for appraising policy-making issues and applicable in a wide variety of context.

The course will cover both key microeconomic policy issues and macroeconomic issues.

Thursday 30 May - Saturday 1 June 2024

Each policy workshop applies the analytical tools that are taught in the week-long modules of the EMPP to specific policy areas of particular relevance to the UK Civil Service. Teaching is based on a series of case studies.

The case studies are taught by specialists in a particular policy area and are complemented with group working sessions and presentations by Senior Civil Service policy practitioners involved in the policy area.

Thursday 15 May - Saturday 17 May 2025

Monday 24 March - Friday 28 March 2025

Capstones are group projects undertaken by a small group of students (usually 3-5 people) on a public policy challenge of importance for the Civil Service. Each project is supervised by a member of EMPP staff, who provides advice and monitors progress. Capstone projects require students to draw on learning from disciplines taught across the programme.

Project groups are required to produce an end-of-week presentation to a group of Civil Service stakeholders, a memo outlining possible solutions to their policy challenge and two short newspaper articles to articulate the value of their policy proposals to relevant audiences. Capstone projects require the exercise of intellectual skills such as analysis, synthesis, evaluation and problem solving as well as practical skills such as team working and communication.

Option (choice) module portfolio

Monday 9 September - Friday 13 September 2024

This module provides an introduction to the field of public economics. The module covers all the main areas or research in public economics, including tax policy, transfer policy, social insurance, pensions, minimum wages, child care provision, parental leave policy, regulation, and public goods. All of the topics are motivated by current policy questions, and we look at both the empirical and theoretical evidence bearing on these questions. At the end of the module, the participants will have a clear understanding of what we know and don’t know in most areas of public economics, as well as an understanding of the methodologies used to produce these insights.

Monday 4 November - Friday 8 November 2024

This course focuses on the economic interdependence between countries in a global economy.

The first part of the course examines the structure and geography of world trade and examines popular hypothesis such as the "global village" or "flat earth". The second part of the course analyses macroeconomic issues such as the magnitude and effects of international capital flows, the debate over fixed versus flexible exchange rates and the economics of a common currency.

Monday 13 January - Friday 17 January 2025

This course provides the analytical tools to evaluate public policy interventions with respect to both efficiency and equity.

The first part of the course provides students with the analytical tools to assess the efficiency of public policy interventions through examples based on a range of topics including health, education, crime, social services and social care. The second part focuses on issues of inequality and poverty.

Monday 24 February - Friday 28 February 2025

The course examines contemporary issues in fiscal governance with a focus on the institutional structures that shape budgetary choices.

Following an introduction to theoretical approaches to the study of budgeting, topics include medium-term frameworks, top-down budgeting, fiscal rules and fiscal councils, performance budgeting, legislative budgeting, fiscal decentralisation, budget transparency, audit and accountability.

Monday 7 April - Friday 11 April 2025

The main focus of this course is on acquiring the necessary theoretical and empirical skills to engage in the rigorous analysis of public policies in developing countries.

Topics at the forefront of development economics will be covered. These include political economy, trade liberalisation, growth, access to finance, technology adoption, education, health, infrastructure, property rights, land reform, gender, environment, mass media and political accountability.