Meet Harmke Kruithof

In the first year of study, you will develop robust analytical skills in statistics and economics, while also learning the principles of public management, law and governance, the policy-making process, and project management.

Through these courses, you will acquire a broad and interdisciplinary theoretical and analytical framework to examine contemporary governance challenges, while honing practical skills such as policy writing and research design.

Toward the end of the first semester, you will get to select one of two areas of concentrations:

• In the Policy Analysis (PA) concentration, you will learn cutting-edge statistical and analysis tools and use them to make sense of empirical evidence on governance challenges. You will also learn to design, implement and evaluate public policies to address those challenges. Causality is a key issue addressed in the Policy Analysis concentration: How do we know if a policy is effective? How can a causal relationship between a policy intervention and the outcome of interest be established?
   
• In the Governance and Leadership (GL) concentration, you will be trained in modern concepts and methods of leadership, decision-making, public management and strategy. Whereas the Policy Analysis concentration focuses on which policy is most effective to address a specific challenges, in Governance and Leadership a central question is how to ensure the successful implementation of policies and how to design and lead organisations in a responsible and effective way.

In the second year, you will delve deeper into the key issues of your area of concentration, but will nonetheless have the opportunity to take courses outside your concentration. You will also have the opportunity to make an original contribution to the scientific study of a specific policy challenge by writing a master’s thesis under the supervision of a faculty member.

Regardless of the concentration that you choose, the MPP will enable you to effectively analyse data and complex empirical evidence, design, implement, and evaluate effective policy instruments, and make informed recommendations on actionable solutions to societal challenges. At the core of the program are not only analytical and critical thinking skills but also ethical considerations about the meaning of, and conditions for, good governance as a rich and multilayered concept.