1. Class Participation (10%): Students are expected to read the assigned reading materials and actively engage in class discussions. 


2. In-class discussions (20%): The arrangement will be announced in the first lecture. 


3. Group Presentation (35%): Students are expected to form a group and give a presentation (around 20 to 30 mins) in Weeks 14 and 15 respectively. The topics of presentation should be related to the context of this course, and the arrangement will be announced in the first lecture. After the presentation, a group project (15%) (around 5,000 words) should be submitted by 24 Dec 2025. 


4. Individual-based reading reflection note (20%): Students must write a paper with 1,500-2,500 words. Evaluating arguments of one (at least) selected article from a prescribed reading list, then developing the arguments in the reflection note.. The reflection note demonstrates knowledge and understanding of the academic literature on a specific topic placed in context. The note should be submitted by WEEK 11. Please ensure your full name and student number are written down on the note. 

Comparative Public Policy – Concepts, Theories, Approaches

Hague, R., & Harrop, M. (2010). Part V Public Policy, The Policy Process. In R. Hague, & M. Harrop (Eds.), Comparative Government and Politics: An Introduction (pp. 365-385). Palgrave.

Ryan, M. (2018). Comparative Method. In V. Lowndes, D. Marsh, & G. Stoker, Gerry (Eds.), Theory and Methods in Political Science (pp. 271-289). Macmillan.

Peters, B. G. (2018). Comparative Politics and Comparative Policy Studies: Making the Linkage. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 20(1), 88-100. https://doi.org/10.1080/13876988.2017.1414409

Geva-May, I., Hoffman, D. C., & Muhleisen, J. (2018). Twenty years of comparative policy analysis: A survey of the field and a discussion of topics and methods. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, 20(1), 18-35. https://doi.org/10.1080/13876988.2017.1405618

Radin, B. A., & Weimer, D. L. (2018). Compared to what? the multiple meanings of comparative policy analysis. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, 20(1), 56-71. https://doi.org/10.1080/13876988.2017.1414475

Concept of Greater China region

Wong, N.W.M. (2021).  Chapter 1 Introduction. In N.W.M. Wong (Ed.), The Politics of Waste Management in Greater China Environmental Governance and Public Participation in Transition (pp. 1-14). Routledge.

Harding, H. (1993). The Concept of ‘Greater China’: Themes, Variations, and Reservations. The China Quarterly, 136, 660-686. https://doi.org/10.2307/655587

Shambaugh, D. (1993). Introduction: The Emergence of ‘Greater China.’ The China

Quarterly, 136, 653-659. https://doi.org/ 10.1017/s0305741000032288

Su, T.-T., Walker, R. M., & Xue, L. (2013). Reform and Transition in Public Administration Theory and Practice in Greater China. Public Administration, 91(2), 253–260. https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12030

Political and Economic Dynamics of Policy Making

Cameron, D. R. (1978). The Expansion of the Public Economy: A Comparative Analysis. American Political Science Review, 72(04), 1243–1261. https://doi.org/10.2307/1954537

Blais, A., Kim, J., & Foucault, M. (2010). Public spending, public deficits, and government coalitions. Political Studies, 58(5), 829-846. https://doi.org/ 10.1111/j.1467-9248.2010.00842.x

Domestic Context of Policy Making

Weaver, R.K., &. Rockman, B.A (1993). Assessing the effects of institutions. In R.K. Weaver, & B.A. Rockman (Eds), Do Institutions Matter? Government Capabilities in the United States and Abroad (pp. 1-41). The Brookings Institution.

Globalization and Public Policy

Garrett, G. (2001). Globalization and government spending around the world. Studies in Comparative International Development, 35(4), 3-29. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02732706

Howlett, M., & Ramesh, M. (2002). The policy effects of internationalization: A subsystem adjustment analysis of policy change. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 4(1), 31-50. https://doi.org/10.1080/13876980208412669

Aspaltier, C. (2006). The East Asian Welfare Model. International Journal of Social Welfare, 15, 290-301. https://doi.org/ 10.1111/j.1468-2397.2006.00413.x

Policy Transfer & Learning, Looking for Lessons and Venturing Abroad

Dolowitz, D. P., & Marsh, D. (1996). Who Learning What from Whom: A Review of the Policy Transfer Literature. Political Studies, 44(2), 343-357. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9248.1996.tb00334.x

James, O., & Lodge, M. (2003). The Limitations of ‘Policy Transfer’ and ‘Lesson Drawing” for Public Policy Research. Political Studies Review, Vol 1(2), 179-193. https://doi.org/ 10.1111/1478-9299.t01-1-00003

Bomberg, E. (2007). Policy learning in an enlarged European Union: environmental NGOs and new policy instruments. Journal of European Public Policy, 14(2), 248-268. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501760601122522

Fiorino, D. J. (2001). Environmental Policy As Learning: A New View of an Old Landscape. Public Administration Review, 61(3), 322- 334. https://doi.org/ 10.1111/0033-3352.00033

Shefer, I. (2018). Policy transfer in city-to-city cooperation: implications for urban climate governance learning. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 21(1), 61-75. https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2018.1562668. 

Wong, N.W.M. (2021).  Chapter 6 Policy transfer in municipal waste management, The ‘Taipei model’ and its impacts on the Greater China region. In N.W.M. Wong (Ed.), The Politics of Waste Management in Greater China Environmental Governance and Public Participation in Transition (pp. 93-109). Routledge. 

Social Security Policy

Peng, C., & Wang, J. (2023). Local Integration of Urban–Rural Social-assistance Programmes in China: What Are the Driving Forces? The China Quarterly, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305741023001030

Liu, Y., Liu, J., & Zhou, Y. (2017). Spatio-temporal patterns of rural poverty in China and targeted poverty alleviation strategies. Journal of Rural Studies, 52, 66–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2017.04.002 

Yu, A. (2020). The failure of the welfare ideology and system in Hong Kong: A historical perspective. Human Affairs, 31(1), 99-108. https://doi.org/10.1515/humaff-2021-0009

Fung, K. (2017). Neoliberalization and community development practices in Hong Kong. Community Development Journal, 52(1), 55–75. https://doi.org/10.1093/cdj/bsw048

Mok, K. H., Kühner, S., & Huang, G. (2017). The Productivist Construction of Selective Welfare Pragmatism in China. Social Policy & Administration, 51(6), 876–897. https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.12337

Lee, E. W. Y. (2008). Social mobilization, blame avoidance and welfare restructuring in Hong Kong. In M. Sing (Ed.) Politics and Government in Hong Kong: Crisis under Chinese Sovereignty (pp. 162-175). Routledge.

Chan, K. W. (2012). Rethinking flexible welfare strategy in Hong Kong: a new direction for the East Asian welfare model? Journal of Asian Public Policy, 5(1), 71-81. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/17516234.2012.662358

Lai, D. W. L., & Chui, E. W. T. (2014). A Tale of Two Cities: A Comparative Study on the Welfare Regimes of Hong Kong and Macao. Social Policy and Society, 13(02), 263-274. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1474746413000614

Yu, S. W.K., Chau, R. C.M., Boxall, K., & Chung, W.C.Y. (2014). Looking to the East and the West: The double-attachment strategy used by the Hong Kong government to develop welfare to work measures for lone parents. Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy, 30(2): 93-106. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/21699763.2013.861357

Yeung, D. Y. (2013). Is pre-retirement planning always good? An exploratory study of retirement adjustment among Hong Kong Chinese retirees. Aging & Mental Health, 17(3), 386-393. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/13607863.2012.732036

Lai, D. W. L. (2017). A comparative study of social assistance systems in Macao and Hong Kong. Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development, 27(1), 39-52. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/02185385.2017.1310054

Li, S. (2011). Issues and Options for Social Security Reform in China.  China: An International Journal, 09(1), 72-109. https://doi.org/10.1353/chn.2011.0001

Healthcare Policy

He, J. (2019). Healthcare policy and reforms in Hong Kong. In W. Dong (Eds). Social Policy in China: From State-led to Market-led Economy (pp. 211-224). Rock’s Mills Press.

Daemmrich, A. (2013). The political economy of healthcare reform in China: negotiating public and private. SpringerPlus, 2(1), 448. https://doi.org/10.1186/2193-1801-2-448.

Chung, Y. R., Chan, D., Chau, N. N., Huang, S., Wong, H., Wong, S. Y. (2019). Poverty affects access to regular source of primary care among the general population in Hong Kong. Social Policy & Administration, 2019(53), 854-871. DOI: 10.1111/spol.12538 (SSCI)

He, A. J., Bali, A. S., & Ramesh, M. (2022). Active stewardship in healthcare: Lessons from China's health policy reforms. Social Policy & Administration, 56(6), 925–940. https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.12832

Chindarkar, N., Nakajima, M., & Wu, A. (2022). Inequality of Opportunity in Health Among Urban, Rural, and Migrant Children: Evidence from China. Journal of Social Policy, 1-20. doi:10.1017/S0047279422000782

Environmental Policy

Wong, N. W. M. (2016). Environmental protests and NIMBY activism: Local politics and waste management in Beijing and Guangzhou. China Information, 30(2), 143–164. https://doi.org/ 10.1177/0920203X16641550.

Wong, N. W. M. (2018). Environmental policy change in two transitional societies: a comparative study on anti-incinerator construction in Guangzhou and Taipei. Asian Geographer, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/10225706.2018.1547201

Wong, N.W.M. (2021).  Chapter 4 Guangzhou, Roles of public participation in MSW governance. In N.W.M. Wong (Ed.), The Politics of Waste Management in Greater China Environmental Governance and Public Participation in Transition (pp. 39-76). Routledge. 

Wong, N.W.M. (2021).  Chapter 5 Hong Kong, Unresponsive collective action in MSW politics. In N.W.M. Wong (Ed.), The Politics of Waste Management in Greater China Environmental Governance and Public Participation in Transition (pp. 77-92). Routledge. 

Song, Q., Li, J., Duan, H., Yu, D., & Wang, Z, (2017). Towards to sustainable energy-efficient city: A case study of Macau. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 75, 504-514. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.11.018

Song, Q., Wang, Z., & Li, J. (2016). Exploring residents’ attitudes and willingness to pay for solid waste management in Macau. Environmental Science Pollution Research, 23(16), 16456–16462. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6590-8.