Elisa Wirsching

This course is available on the MSc in International Migration and Public Policy, MSc in International Migration and Public Policy (LSE and Sciences Po) and MSc in Public Policy and Administration. 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.

This course is capped at 1 group of 34 students.

Many master's graduates in public policy and administration go on to work in organisations that produce, evaluate, or act on policy-relevant evidence. This course equips students with the tools to do so rigorously and critically. The first half focuses on the methods of policy analysis and evaluation, from experimental and quasi-experimental designs to machine learning and computational approaches, and develops the analytical skills needed to assess what evidence can and cannot establish. The second half examines the political economy of policy advice: who the key actors are — including scientists and technical experts, economists and technocrats, think tanks, lobbyists, bureaucrats, and media actors — what interests they carry, and what political and institutional forces shape whether evidence reaches decision-makers and in what form. Combining methodological training with theoretical and empirical insights from political science and public policy, the course prepares students both to conduct policy analysis and to critically interrogate the conditions under which it is used.

25 hours of seminars in the Winter Term.

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

Quiz.

Discussion post.

In addition to in-class quizzes, students will be asked to contribute discussion posts on Moodle.

Angrist, J.D. and Pischke, J.S. (2015) Mastering Metrics: The Path from Cause to Effect. Princeton University Press.

Cartwright, N. and Hardie, J. (2012) Evidence-Based Policy: A Practical Guide to Doing It Better. Oxford University Press.

Cairney, P. (2016) The Politics of Evidence-Based Policy Making. London: Palgrave Pivot.

Pielke, R.A. Jr. (2007). The Honest Broker: Making Sense of Science in Policy and Politics. Cambridge University Press.

Duflo, E. (2017). "The Economist as Plumber." American Economic Review: Papers & Proceedings, 107(5), pp. 1–26.

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

Presentation (15%).

For the presentation component, students will be asked to present assigned readings in a debating format, where one student critiques the article and one student defends it.