Dr Simon Bastow

Dr Lloyd Gruber

This course is available on the Double Master of Public Administration (LSE-Sciences Po), Master of Public Administration, Master of Public Policy, MPA Dual Degree (LSE and NUS) and MPA Dual Degree (LSE and Tokyo). This course is not available as an outside option to students on other programmes.

This course is not available to first year MPA students.

Students taking a policy paper are requested to register for the course by 9am on the Monday of week 1 of Autumn Term.  Please note this is a half-unit course with teaching in both Autumn and Winter Terms and it is not possible to add or drop the course in the January course selection period.

For queries, please contact mpa@lse.ac.uk

Mutually exclusive courses:

This course cannot be taken with PP4B4 at any time on the same degree programme.

The aim of the course is to enable students to plan, design and conduct independent research in an area of public policy. Students will write an individually-authored policy paper of no more than 6,000 words on a topic developed in consultation with their supervisor.  The policy paper will carry out an evidence-based assessment of a concrete policy issue or problem in a specific setting and provide a practical contribution to policy and practice.  The main body of the policy paper will describe and justify the student's methodology, highlight the most important results of the analysis, and make policy recommendations based on these findings.  While students may wish to incorporate quantitative data in their papers, qualitative approaches and methods are also welcome.  Whatever approach they take, all policy paper writers are expected to draw on the relevant scholarly literature - primary and/or secondary. 

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

This course is delivered through lectures and collaborative workshops totalling a minimum of 6 hours in Autumn Term and another 6 hours in Winter Term. 

The collaborative sessions will provide policy paper writers with opportunities to try out ideas and gather feedback.  Each student's supervisor will also be available to offer advice and guidance throughout the process.

A 750-word policy paper proposal will be submitted in the Autumn Term.  The proposal will suggest a title for the paper, identify the student's research question, provide an abstract, and (briefly) discuss the rationale for the research and the feasibility of the project.  Students will also explain their research design and method(s), identify potential sources, and describe how their papers are likely to be structured.  Policy paper writers will receive feedback on their proposal, at which point they can no longer change their topic except with the explicit agreement of their supervisor.

• Stella Cottrell, Dissertations and Project Reports: A Step by Step Guide (Palgrave Study Skills, 2014);
• William Dunn, Public Policy Analysis: An Integrated Approach (Routledge, 2018);
• Catherine Smith, Writing Public Policy: A Practical Guide to Communicating in the Policymaking Process (Oxford University Press, 2023)
• Eugene Bardach and Erick M. Patashnik, A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path to More Effective Problem Solving, 7th ed. (CQ Press, 2024)
• W. Phillips Shively and James W. Endersby, The Craft of Political Research, 11th ed. (Routledge, 2025).

Policy paper / report (85%, 6000 words).

Continuous assessment (15%).

The continuous assessment will be evaluated through a Structured Supervisor Assessment in the second half of Winter Term.

The final policy paper will be submitted early in Spring Term.