Dr Michael Lerner

This course is available on the MSc in Public Policy and Administration and MSc in Regulation. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. This course uses controlled access as part of the course selection process. For information on controlled access courses, including eligibility, application processes, deadlines, and departmental contact details, please refer to the Controlled Access Courses webpage.

How to apply: To apply for a place on this course, please submit a short statement of no more than 200 words via LfY. Your statement should outline your reasons for applying and explain how the course will support your academic and/or career goals. If applicable, you should also demonstrate how you meet any pre-requisites listed in the course guide. If the course is compulsory for your programme, no written statement is required.

Priority for places on Government (GV) courses will be given first to students for whom the course is compulsory. Where applicable, priority will then be given to students on the Department of Government programmes listed in the ‘Availability’ section of the course guide, followed by students on other programmes listed in that section. Students on all other programmes will be considered next, where a course is available as an outside option. You should ensure that you meet any pre-requisites listed in the course guide before applying. Places on capped courses cannot be guaranteed. Where a course is oversubscribed, places will be allocated based on programme priority and the written statement.

Deadline for applications: The deadline for applications is 12:00 noon on Friday 25 September 2026. You can expect to be informed of the outcome of your application by 12:00 noon on Monday 28 September 2026. Any places remaining after this date will be allocated based on priority and written statement - up until course selection closes.

For queries contact: gov.msc@lse.ac.uk.

The course is capped at 2 groups.

Students should normally be taking GV4E9 Approaches and Issues in Public Policy and Administration, GV488 Law and Politics of Regulation, or already have a good knowledge of comparative public policy. Waiving of these requirements will be at the discretion of the course teacher.

Why and how does public policy change? In this course, we investigate how institutions, interests, and ideas shape, constrain, and enable reform. In the first half of the course, you will receive foundational instruction in core analytical frameworks, descriptions, and explanations of policy change, as well as comparative research methods. In the second half, you will apply these tools to understand policy change for protection, empowerment, transformation, and innovation. This course equips students with the skills to propose and critically assess explanations of policy variation, stability, change, and convergence.

LSE is currently evaluating the use of edit tracking tools for AI-resilient assessment. This course might use edit tracking tools for assessments.

2 hours of lectures and 20 hours of seminars in the Winter Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Winter Term.

Mock exam.

Video.

Students will be expected to submit formative assessment in the WT.

There is no single textbook, but the following are particularly useful introductions: 

• Dodds, Anneliese. (2018), Comparative Public Policy (2nd ed.) Macmillan International Higher Education.
• Weible, Christopher M., and Paul A. Sabatier (eds) (2023). Theories of the Policy Process. Taylor & Francis Group. 5th edition.
• Hacker, Jacob S., Paul Pierson, and Kathleen Thelen. (2015). “Drift and conversion: Hidden faces of institutional change” in Advances in Comparative-Historical Analysis (James Mahoney and Kathleen Thelen, eds.). Cambridge University Press. Chapter 7.
• Fairfield, Tasha (2013). “Going where the money is: Strategies for taxing economic elites in unequal democracies.” World Development 47: 42–57.
• Meckling, Jonas (2018). “Governing renewables: Policy feedback in a global energy transition.” Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space 37.2: 317–338.
• Brummer, Chris and Yesha Yadav (2019). “Fintech and the Innovation Trilemma.” Georgetown Law Journal, 107.2:235–308.

Exam (85%), duration: 120 Minutes in the Spring exam period.

Video (15%) in Spring Term Week 2.

Students will create up to two 4–6 minute video blog posts interpreting a recent event through the lens of course material (one must be uploaded in the first half of term, and one in the second half of term), of which one will be submitted for assessment.