"Field III prepares students to serve as policymakers and policy analysts in a wide variety of domestic settings, including federal, state, and local governments and nongovernmental organizations. The curriculum combines intensive study of American politics and economics with interdisciplinary courses focusing on such topics as poverty, health, education, and the environment."

Field I | Field II | Field III | Field IV

Field III emphasizes public policy within the dynamic setting of the American political system. Students in Field III acquire competence in using the tools of several disciplines and approaches in analyzing urban and domestic problems. Incoming domestic policy students have worked for organizations that include local chambers of commerce; U.S. federal, state, and local agencies; nonprofit organizations; political campaigns; public service organizations; and educational institutions. They have worked as community organizers, program managers, economists, teachers, labor activists, and research fellows. This breadth of experience brings many unique perspectives to the classroom setting.

Economics and politics are central to this field. M.P.A. students are introduced to the field through the required course, WWS 521 Domestic Politics. The course surveys the political analysis of policymaking in the American setting, and includes theoretical and empirical analyses of political institutions, including executives, legislatures, and bureaucracies. Students also examine the political environment in which these institutions operate, with special attention to the role of public opinion, interest groups, and elections.

M.P.A. students in Field III are also required to take an advanced course using microeconomics such as WWS 522 Microeconomic Analysis of Domestic Policy, WWS 523 Legal and Regulatory Policy Toward Markets, or WWS 525 Microeconomic Analysis of Government Activity. Students are strongly encouraged to continue their study of economics, politics, and sociology by taking additional courses in each discipline. Many Field III students take elective courses in negotiation, program and policy evaluation, public management, state and local finance and urban planning. Recent domestically-focused policy workshop topics have included:

• A Home Ownership Strategy for the City of Newark, NJ
• Achieving the Goals of the Newark Children's Bill of Rights
• Provision of Mental Health Services in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina
• Climate Change, Mitigation, and Adaption Strategies for New Jersey

The M.P.A. program requires students to complete a summer internship between their first and second years. The internship portion of the curriculum is managed by the School's Office of Graduate Career Services; please visit the Career Services web site for a list of internships taken by Field III students, as well as a list of careers that Field III graduates have gone on to.

José Huizar
MPA/URP '94
Councilmember, 14th District, City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA; Trustee, Princeton University

José Huizar was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in November 2005 following his service as both President and member of the Board of Education of the Los Angeles Unified School District (2001-05). He has received numerous distinctions, including profiles by the Los Angeles Business Journal as one of the 25 figures in the Los Angeles area that "stand out for their potential to shape lives" and by Hispanic Business magazine as one of the "100 most influential Hispanics" in the United States.

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