公共政策的基础是一门介绍性的课程，旨在讨论将公共决策视为政策问题解决的过程及一个政治的角力过程，将从不同重要参与者和机构的角度去思考政策决定，这包括行政部门、立法者、法院（司法机构），普罗大众、利益团体跟媒体。在这之间我们研究政策发展与机制的互动过程，然后评估政策决定的相关标准与经验模型。

Fundamentals of Public Policy is an introductory course that explores policy-making as both a problem-solving process and a political process. We look at policy-making from the perspective of different focal actors and institutions, including: administrative agencies, legislators, the courts, the mass public, interest groups, and the media. We examine the interplay between policy development and institutions, and review normative and empirical models of policy-making.

探索这些议题过程中，我们必须问几个问题第一，为什么有些问题会被视为“公众问题”，而引起政府单位的注意，那为何有些问题无法得到政府重视？另外，为何我们需要所谓的“公共政策”? 是什么决定公共政策的内容与本质？谁决定公共政策的优先级？公共政策真能适当的解决问题？

Exploring these issues will require us to address questions like: How and why does something come to be seen as a "public problem" requiring a governmental response, while others fail to get attention? Why do we need public policies? What determines the content and nature of public policies? Who decides public policy priorities? Does public policy every accomplish anything worthwhile?