Readings

The table below provides information on the course's lecture (L) and recitations (R) sessions.

 

SES # TOPICS LECTURERS READINGS
L1 Introduction to Technology and Policy Prof. Weigel

Lecture Slides (PDF)

Moidel, Steve. "The Six Major Reading Problems," and "Double Your Reading Speed in an Hour." Chapters 3 and 4 in Speed Reading for Business. 2nd ed. Hauppauge, NY: Barrons, 1998. ISBN: 0764104012.
L2 The Heart of Policy Arguments - Equity, Efficiency, Liberty, Security Prof. Weigel

Stone, Deborah. Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision Making. New York, NY: W. W. Norton, 2001, chapters 1-5. ISBN: 0393976254.

Press releases: "September 11th Compensation Fund Regulations Announced," and "Spitzer Criticizes DOJ Regulations on September 11th Victim Compensation Fund." (PDF)

Hadfield, Gillian K. "The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund: 'An Unprecedented Experiment in American Democracy'." University of Southern California. University of Southern California Legal Studies Working Paper Series. Working Paper 3, May 2005. (Focus on sections I-III.)
L3 Portraying Policy Problems - The Art of Framing in Many Languages Prof. Weigel

Lecture Slides (PDF)

Stone, Deborah. Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision Making. Chapters 6-10.

Wilber, Del Quentin. "Newly Banned Items Often Fly Past Airport Screeners." Washington Post, September 13, 2006.
R1 Victim's Compensation Fund Case Study    
L4 Policy Strategy and Instruments Prof. Weigel

Lecture Slides (PDF)

Stone, Deborah. Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision Making. Chapters 11-15.
L5 Current Issues in Technology and Policy: Environmental Policy Challenges I Guest - Prof. Dave Marks

Pacala, S., and R. Socolow. "Stabilization Wedges: Solving the Climate Problem For The Next 50 Years with Current Technologies." Science 305, no. 5686 (August 13, 2004): 968 - 972.

Socolow, R., R. Hotinski, J. Greenblatt, and S. Pacala. "Solving the Climate Problem: Technologies for Curbing CO2 Emissions." Environment 46, no. 10 (2004): 8-19.

Optional (but highly useful): The entire issue of Scientific American, September 2006.
R2 Discussion of Stone Through the News: Equity and Efficiency    
L6 Class Projects Update: Teams, Project Organization, and NRC Reports Prof. Weigel Review/skim at least three different reports of your choice on different topics from the NRC Web site.
R3 Discussion of Stone Through the News: Security and Liberty    
L7 Current Issues in Technology and Policy: Environmental Policy Challenges II Guest - Prof. Dave Marks  
L8 Government Policy and Technology I - History in the U.S. Guest - Prof. David Mindell

Dupree, A. Hunter. Science and the Federal Government. Introduction and chapter 14, Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986. ISBN: 0801833817.

Brooks, Harvey. "The Evolution of U.S. Science Policy." In Technology, R&D, and the Economy. Edited by B. Smith and C. Barfield. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1995. ISBN: 0815779852.

Bush, Vannevar. "Science--The Endless Frontier." Report to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, July 1945.
R4 Case Study - London Congestion Pricing    
L9 Government Policy and Technology II - International Prof. Weigel

Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB), National Research Council. "The Organization of Federal Support, A Historical Review." Chapter 4 in Funding a Revolution: Government Support for Computing Research. Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 1999. ISBN: 0309062780.

Nelson, Richard, ed. National Innovation Systems. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1993. ISBN: 0195076176.
R5 Case Study - KIDSNET    
L10 Challenger Case Study Guest - Prof. Daniel Hastings

The Challenger Disaster (PDF) (Courtesy of Prof. Daniel Hastings. Used with permission.)

Vaughan, D. The Challenger Launch Decision. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1997, chapters 1, 2, and 8. ISBN: 0226851761.

Tufte, Edward. Visual and Statistical Thinking: Displays of Evidence for Making Decisions. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press, 1997. ISBN: 0961392134.
L11 Systems Thinking: Origins and Why It Matters To Policy Prof. Roos

Lecture Slides (PDF)

Cronon, William. "Pricing the Future: Grain." In Nature's Metropolis. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Co, Inc, 1992. ISBN: 0393308731.

Hughes, Thomas P. Networks of Power: Electrification in Western Society, 1880-1930. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1975, chapter 1. ISBN: 0801846145.

Optional

Buy at MIT Press Jardini, D. R. "Out of the Blue Yonder: The Transfer of Systems Thinking from the Pentagon to the Great Society, 1961-1965." In Systems, Experts, and Computers: The Systems Approach in Management and Engineering, World War II and After. Edited by A. C. Hughes and T. P. Hughes. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2000. ISBN: 0262082853.

Hughes, Thomas P. Rescuing Prometheus. New York, NY: Knopf, 2000, chapter 6. ISBN: 0679739386.

Rhodes, Donna, and Daniel Hastings. "The Case for Evolving Systems Engineering as a Field within Engineering Systems." Paper presented at MIT Engineering Systems Symposium, March 2004. (This resource may not render correctly in a screen reader.PDF)
R6 Understanding Systems Thinking    
L12 Policy Analysis I Prof. Weigel

Lecture Slides (PDF)

Starling, Grover. Strategies for Policy Making. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole, 1988, chapters 1, 7, and 8. ISBN: 0534108466.

Patton, Carl V., and David S. Sawicki. Basic Methods of Policy Analysis and Planning. East Rutherford, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1993, pp. 168-176. ISBN: 013060948X.
L13 Globalization Impacts: Government - Industry Interactions Guest - Prof. Suzanne Berger Berger, Suzanne. How We Compete. New York, NY: Doubleday, 2005, parts one and two. ISBN: 0385513593.
L14 Policy Analysis II Prof. Weigel

Lecture Slides (PDF)

Starling, Grover. Strategies for Policy Making. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole, 1988, chapter 9. ISBN: 0534108466.

Fischer, Frank. Reframing Public Policy. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2003, chapter 9. ISBN: 019924264X.

Mazmanian, D. A., and P. A. Sabatier. Implementation and Public Policy. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, Inc, 1989, chapter 2. ISBN: 0819175269.

Optional

Averch, Harvey. Private Markets and Public Intervention. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1990, chapters 2 and 3. ISBN: 082293647X.
L15 Globalization Impacts: Supply Chains Guest - Prof. Yoshi Sheffi Buy at MIT Press Sheffi, Yoshi. The Resilient Enterprise. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2005, chapters 1-5. ISBN: 0262195372.
L16 Globalization Impacts: Globalization and the Automotive Sector Prof. Roos

Lecture Slides (PDF)

Womack, J. P., D. T. Jones, and D. Roos. The Machine That Changed The World: The Story of Lean Production. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2007, chapters 1-4. ISBN: 0743299795.
L17 Class Projects Update All Lecture Slides (PDF)
L18 Policy Analysis III Prof. Weigel

Heywood, J. B. Testimony presented at U.S. House of Representatives' Science Committee, Subcommittees on Energy and Research joint hearing on "Fueling the Future: On the Road to the Hydrogen Economy," Wednesday, July 20, 2005. (PDF)

Heywood, J. B., and Malcolm A. Weiss. "New Vehicle Technologies: How Soon Can They Make a Difference?" MIT Laboratory for Energy and the Environment, March 2005. (This resource may not render correctly in a screen reader.PDF)

———. "A Multipronged Approach to Curbing Gasoline Use." MIT Laboratory for Energy and the Environment, June 2004. (This resource may not render correctly in a screen reader.PDF)

Weiss, Malcom A., and Andreas Schafer. "Vehicles and Fuels for 2020: Assessing the Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Vehicle." MIT Laboratory for Energy and the Environment, March 2003. (This resource may not render correctly in a screen reader.PDF)
L19 Focus Area: Policy Perspectives on Transportation Guest - Bob Skinner

Lecture Slides (PDF)

Transportation Research Board. "Future Flight: A Review of the Small Aircraft Transportation System Concept." TRB Special Report 263, 2002. (This resource may not render correctly in a screen reader.PDF - 2.6 MB)

———. "Does the Built Environment Influence Physical Activity? Examining the Evidence." TRB Special Report 282, 2005. (This resource may not render correctly in a screen reader.PDF - 1.5 MB)

———. The Fuel Tax and Alternatives for Transportation Funding. TRB Special Report 285, 2006. (This resource may not render correctly in a screen reader.PDF - 1.1 MB)

Students should read the executive summaries of each of the TRB reports and browse through the bodies of the report to get a sense of how issues were framed by the authoring committees and the kinds of evidence and analysis considered.
L20 Focus Area: The Big Dig - Policy Implications and Lessons Guest - Fred Salvucci Altshuler, A. A., and D. E. Luberoff. "The New Politics of Highways." In Mega-Projects: The Changing Politics of Urban Public Investment. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2003. ISBN: 0815701292.
L21 No Class; Project Work Time    
L22 Current Issues in Technology and Policy: IT and Privacy Guest - Frank Field

Kaplan, Carl S. "Kafkaesque? Big Brother? Finding the Right Literary Metaphor for Net Privacy." The New York Times, February 2, 2001.

Liptak, Adam. "Expunged Criminal Records Live to Tell Tales." The New York Times, October 17, 2006.

Black, Jason, Kieran Downes, Frank Field, Aleksandra Mozdzanowska, and Katherine Steel. "The Metaphors of Emerging Technologies: Unpacking the disconnects between the 'what' and the 'how' in the world of 'online shopping'." Conference paper preprint, 9th International Conference on Technology Policy and Innovation, Santorini, Greece, June 2006.

Supplements

Turow, Joseph. "Have They Got A Deal For You: It's Suspiciously Cozy in the Cybermarket." The Washington Post, June 19, 2005, p. B01.

———. "Americans and Online Privacy: The System Is Broken." Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania, June 2003. (This resource may not render correctly in a screen reader.PDF - 1.6MB)

O'Harrow, Robert, Jr. "In Age of Security, Firm Mines Wealth Of Personal Data." The Washington Post, January 20, 2005, p. A01. (Off-topic, but it may be of interest; O'Harrow's award-winning series of articles and supporting information is hosted at the Washington Post's site: "The High Price of Homeland Security").

Turow, Joseph, Lauren Feldman, and Kimberly Meltzer. "Open To Exploitation: American Shoppers Online and Offline." Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania, June 2005. (This resource may not render correctly in a screen reader.PDF - 2.6 MB)
L23 Current Issues in Technology and Policy: The Role of Standards In Technology And Policy Guest - Dr. William Jeffrey, Director, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Starling, Grover. Strategies for Policy Making. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole, 1988, chapters 1 and 2. ISBN: 0534108466.
L24 Final Project Presentations Students  
L25 Final Project Presentations (cont.) Students  
L26 Policy Principles: Discussion and Reflection Prof. Weigel  
L27 Conclusion and Wrap-up All