NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
ROBERT F. WAGNER GRADUATE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC SERVICE
The Convergence of Business and Public Administration in the Nation’s Economy

Summer Semester, 2014, July 7th – August 8th

Tuesdays and Thursdays

Washington, DC

COURSE OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION

Are business interests in the U.S. too politically powerful or is the government unnecessarily restricting their ability to compete in the global marketplace? This course will explore the complex relationship between what are traditionally separate disciplines of study but which are converging in an increasingly regulated domestic and globalized economy. The course will review the political, governmental and judicial policies that create the current environment for business as well as examine the respective roles played by the congress, the executive branch and the courts. There will also be general comparisons between U.S. behaviors and institutions and those in Germany, the economic engine driving the European Union’s economy. Calling upon the unique resources of Washington, DC, there will be guest lecturers to bring real world experience to subjects being discussed. Guest lecturers will be limited to making a thirty minute presentation including a Q & A session.

Field Trip: The class will go to Capitol Hill to meet with members of congress and committee staff. Subjects to be explored will be relevant to the course and will include congressional oversight of the executive branch, the budget and appropriations process as well as a review of current legislative activity.

Learning Objectives: The course is designed to expose students who will pursue a career in public service to the private sector actors they will interact with in performing their public responsibilities. Likewise, some students may wish, after taking this course, to apply their public administration expertise in the area of corporate government affairs. In the end, the goal is to provide an understanding of the strategies and policies adopted by business and government in their increasingly critical relationship as well as recognizing that both sectors have developed a common set of professional core competencies.

Instructor: Former Congressman Tom Coleman. A member of Congress for 16 years, Coleman was known for his bipartisanship and effectiveness as a legislator. Since leaving congress, Coleman has served as Vice President, Government Relations, for a Fortune 100 global company as well as a government affairs consultant for a variety of clients. He is an attorney. Coleman earned an MPA from New York University and a JD degree from Washington University in St. Louis.

Course Requirements/Assignments/Expectations:

Please keep up with the readings assigned for each class, and be sure to allow sufficient time to complete your assignments and turn them in on time as our schedule is such that they cannot be made up with “extra credit” or “do-overs” in this course.

Plagiarism is a serious academic offense and it is not tolerated at the Wagner School. Please refer to for information on Wagner’s policies regarding academic integrity as well as other resources in order to ensure that you understand what constitutes plagiarism.

Grades will be determined as follows:

  1. Class attendance and participation: 5% and 10% of final grade, respectively;
  2. We will spend the first 15-20 minutes of each class discussing relevant events/news articles and op-ed pieces. Each student will have the opportunity to lead one of the discussions. In this regard, students should read on a daily basis the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Washington Post, as well as consulting relevant on-line policy and political sites such as Bloomberg.com, Business Week, National Journal, Politico, The Hill and Roll Call. This will account for 5% of the final grade;
  3. Producing a series of brief written assignments including a memo, an analysis and a letter on subjects under discussion from the point of view of an assigned participant in the congressional sphere of influence. This will account for 15% of the final grade;
  4. An assigned topic research paper of at least ten and no more than fifteen pages, doubled spaced and typed/computer printed. This will account for 20% of the final grade;
  5. A class project that will utilize analysis and creative thinking, class members will as a group design an NYU Wagner Center for Business and Government. Consideration should be given but not limited to its name, location, curriculum, funding, activities and possible collaborations. The final written document will contain a step-by-step timeline from the Center’s conception to completion. Each class member will take ownership of a specific section of the final document and presentation. This will account for 10% of the final grade. A grade will be assigned to the overall document/exercise that will account for 10% of the final grade for each class member; and
  6. A Final Exam will account for 25% of the final grade.

Required Readings:

Richard Lehne, Government and Business: American Political Economy in Comparative Perspective, 3rd ed. (Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2013);

Edmund M. Burke, Corporate Community Relations: The Principle of the Neighbor of Choice, (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1999);

Michael Gecan, Going Public, An Organizer’s Guide to Citizen Action, (New York, NY: Anchor Books, 2002).

Class 1—INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW OF THE COURSE

Topics: A brief review of the American market system and the business model that followed and the role of government that developed to deal with it; government activities, both positive and negative, that impact the business community including the federal procurement process anda review of the German model of the business-government relationship.

Class readings:

  • Lehne, Chapters 1, 2 and 3
  • Werner Meyer-Larsen, Germany, Inc. : The New German Juggernaut and its Challenges to World Business (New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2000), Chapter 1

Class 2—CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND THE GLOBALIZATION OF BUSINESS ACTIVITY

Topics: A look at who controls American corporations and the roles played by shareholders, boards of directors, management, employees and its sources of funding; an in-depth look at the corporate public affairs function; the emergence of the global marketplace and its impact on corporate behavior; a review of how German business has responded to the forces of globalization.

Class readings:

  • Lehne, Chapters 4 and 5
  • Guest speaker, Representative of the Organization for International Investment (OFII)

Class 3—ADVOCACY IN THE POLITICAL ARENA BY CORPORATIONS AND BUSINESS ASSOCIATIONS

Topics: Consideration as to whether or not the U.S. system of business participation in the affairs of state enhances or obstructs the national common interests; a review of the role of business trade associations in advocacy and how these participation activities compare with Germany’s corporate structure and businessactivities in the political arena.

Class readings:

  • Lehne, Chapters 6 and 7
  • Guest speaker, Representative of national trade association

Written one page Memo to be completed and turned in

Class 4—BUSINESS LOBBYING OF THE LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE BRANCHES

Topics: How business lobbies the federal government; a review of available advocacy tools and how they are deployed; limitations placed on corporate lobbying activity; recent Supreme Court cases on corporate political activity; a review of the codes of ethics covering the congress and executive branch employees; a comparative perspective with the German system.

Class readings:

  • Lehne, Chapters 8, and 9
  • Guest speaker, Representative of Office of German Investment and Trade

Class 5—CONTINUATION OF BUSINESS LOBBYING OF THE LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE BRANCHES

Class 6—GOVERNMENT ECONOMIC POLICIES THAT AFFECT THE PRIVATE SECTOR INCLUDING FISCAL AND MONETARY POLICIES

Topics: The roles of the legislative and executive branches in setting policies; budget deficits and a review of the congressional budget process; a review of the powers and activities of the Federal Reserve Board.

Class readings:

  • Lehne, Chapter 10
  • Lawrence C. Dodd and Bruce I. Oppenheimer, editors, Congress Reconsidered, (Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications, 2013) Chapter 13
  • Bob Woodward, Maestro, (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2000) pp 15-47
  • Kevin Phillips,Bad Money, Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism(New York, NY, Viking Penguin, 2008) pp 38-61

Written letter to be completed and turned in

Class 7--THE IMPACT OF THE REGULATORY PROCESS ON BUSINESS, WITH A SPECIFIC REVIEW OF ANTITRUST AND COMPETITON POLICY AND ITS ENFORCEMENT IN A GLOBAL ECONOMY

Topics: Regulation as a policy tool and the possible need for reform, deregulation and re-regulation; the Administrative Procedures Act; the oversight role of congress; how the subject of antitrust is viewed in the United States, Germany and the EU.

Class readings:

  • Lehne, Chapters 11and 12
  • Guest speaker, Representative of a regulatory agency

Class 8—INDUSTRIAL POLICY AT HOME AND ABROAD, WHAT CONSTITUTES SUCH A POLICY AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR U.S. GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS, REVIEW OF GLOBAL TRADE POLICIES

Topics: A review of American industrial policies in specific business sectors as well as general government action to improve the nation’s economy; comparison of the U.S. experience to those in Germany, Japan; a review of U.S. trade policies in the context of the international trading system and its impact on domestic politics.

Class readings:

  • Lehne, Chapters 13 and 14
  • Guest speaker, Andy Durant, President, Samuels International

One to two page written analysis of an issue to be completed and turned in

Class 9—CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, WHAT IT IS AND HOW AND WHY IT IS BEING ADOPTED BY THE AMERICAN BUSINESS COMMUNITY

Topics: Introducing the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility; a review of the “Principle of the Neighbor of Choice,” its strategy and implementation in corporate communities; applying community activist strategies to meet citizen needs and possible lessons to be learned by both the public and private sectors.

Class readings:

  • Lehne, Chapter 15
  • Burke, pp 1-43
  • Gecan, pp 1-74

Class 10—A CONTINUATION OF THE DISCUSSION ON CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND THE “PRINCIPLE OF THE NEIGHBOR OF CHOICE”

Class readings:

  • Burke, pp 47-67; 161-172
  • Gecan, pp 100-178
  • John T. Dunlop, ed., Business and Public Policy (Boston, MA Harvard University Press, 1980), pp 23-33

Presentation and discussion of Class Project

Term paper to be completed and turned in

Class 11: FINAL EXAM