MPP summer reading

This is our handpicked selection of books, podcasts and videos to help

you get into the themes and debates of the MPP and the core courses.

In the weeks and months leading up to the start of the MPP programme, you may be
thinking about embarking on some preparatory reading.

This may be light ‘holiday’ reading. Or maybe you will look for something more technical to
get a sense of the kinds of problems you’ll be tackling throughout the year.

To help you prepare we’ve put together some indicative texts. For each of the core
courses, we recommend a couple of books – one in the mode of ‘holiday’ reading and
another in a more technical mode.

This is just a list of suggestions and there is of course no obligation to buy or read these
books, so don't feel any pressure to follow this list if you have other reading you want to
do.

We’ve also compiled a range of podcasts that cover topics that might be of interest and
that touch on themes of the MPP. These are just for general interest – they are not part of
any course reading lists.

This can also be a good opportunity to get into the habit of reading actively (as opposed to
passively or recreationally). Below you will find some tips on how to practice active
reading for academic study. This will help to translate your reading throughout the year
into more effective argumentation and authorial voice.

So continue scrolling down, and we hope you find this material interesting.

Best wishes,
Simon Bastow
Some Tips on Practicing ‘Active Reading’

The MPP is an intensive programme and throughout the year you will be expected to get
through a lot of reading for your courses. It is worth thinking therefore about techniques
that can help you to get more out of your reading.

- How can you read in a more efficient and effective way throughout the year?
- How can you avoid a primarily passive mode of reading? And move to one that is
purposeful and proactive?

Here are some tips:

1. Try to have a good idea about why you are reading something and what you
hope to find out. Ask yourself what it is you think you know about the subject? And what
it is you don’t know and want to find out from the text? In this way you set up your rational
and emotional expectations of what you are reading.
2. Get an overview of the ‘big picture’ before you begin your reading in depth.
For example, give yourself a few minutes to find the essential argument in the first or last
pages of a book. Or look at the contents page for a narrative.
3. Think creatively about always generating outputs from what you read. If you
read a book chapter or article, can you write down a ‘strapline’ in no more than 140
characters that captures the essence of what the chapter or article is saying? Or a mini-
table? Or the argument in graphic terms?
4. Write or speak your notes in your own words. Read a chapter, put the book
aside, and try to compose your notes independently. You may occasionally copy quotes
verbatim, but copying large amounts of text is passive behaviour.
5. 20:1 rule - for every 20 minutes internalising, externalise for at least 1 minute.
If you spend a couple of hours reading two chapters of a book, then find a way to spend at
least 6 minutes talking to yourself (or someone else) about what you have read.
PP401 - Political Science for Public Policy

Steven Levitsky Daniel Ziblatt (2019), How democracies

die: what history reveals about our future, (Penguin)
[HOLIDAY READ]

• Drawing insightful lessons from across history -

from Pinochet's murderous Chilean regime to
Erdogan's quiet dismantling in Turkey
• Explains why democracies fail, how leaders like
Trump subvert them today and what each of us
can do to protect our democratic rights.

Ken Shepsle. (2010) Analyzing politics:

rationality, behavior, and institutions
(Norton & Company) [TECHNICAL READ]

• how ‘rational choice’ methods can

help to structure problems of
political institutions
• gives you a set of tools for
analysing any political problem

Watch Ken Shepsle on what makes a

great leader
PP402 - Quantitative Methods for Public Policy

Charles Wheelan (2013) Naked statistics,

(Norton & Company) [HOLIDAY READ]

• grounded in theory, but eminently

readable on a beach
• gives you a critical eye for the
(mis)representation of data in
everyday life

Watch Charles Wheelan talk in a

bookshop about Naked Statistics

Angrist, Joshua B. & Jorn-Steffen Pischke,

(2014), Mastering ‘metrics’: the path
from cause to effect, (Princeton University
Press) [TECHNICAL READ]

• this is technical stuff, so don’t be

put off
• chapters cover the key elements of
econometrics
• try to feel your way through it, and
get your bearings

Watch Joshua Angrist defending

econometrics, and his instructive cartoon
on mastering it.
PP403 - Public Management

Barber, Michael (2016), How to run a

government: So that citizens benefits
and taxpayers don’t go crazy, (Penguin)
[HOLIDAY READ]

• interesting and engaging on

practical challenges of delivering
change in public services
• written by an expert who has been
at the heart of government

Watch a panel discussion with Sir Michael

Barber on how to run a government

Hood, Christopher (2000), The art of the

state: Culture, rhetoric and public
management, (Oxford University Press)
[TECHNICAL READ]

• a classic public management text

written by one of the leading public
management scholars
• gives you a framework for
understanding any aspect of public
policy
PP404 - Economics for Public Policy

McMillan, John. (2003) Reinventing the

bazaar: A natural history of markets,
(Norton & Company) [HOLIDAY READ]

• brings economics to life with stories

of the evolution of markets around
the globe
• gets you thinking about the market
dynamics beneath the world around
you

Moss, David, (2014) A concise guide to

macroeconomics: What managers,
executives and students need to know,
(Harvard Business Review Press)
[TECHNICAL READ]

• Readable and practical account of

macro need-to-know
• Chapters arranged by key ‘macro-
things’ that managers might need
to understand or do
PP405 - Public Policy Applications

Thaler, Richard. H. (2009) Nudge: improving decisions

about health, wealth and happiness (Penguin)
[HOLIDAY READ]

• Nudge is about choices - how we make them and

how we can make better ones.
• By knowing how people think, we can make it
easier for them to choose what is best for them,
their families and society.
• Using dozens of eye-opening examples and
original research, the authors demonstrate how to
nudge us in the right directions, without restricting
our freedom of choice.

King, Mervyn & Kay, John. (2020) Radical uncertainty:

decision-making for an unknowable future (The Bridge
Street Press) [HOLIDAY READ]

• ambitious and thought-provoking new work offers

an overarching analysis of decision-making in all
walks of life
• draws on biography, history, mathematics,
economics and philosophy to highlight the most
successful methods of dealing with an unknowable
future
• an exploration of the limits of numbers and a
celebration of human instinct and wisdom.
PP406 - Philosophy for Public Policy

Sandel, Michael. (2010), Justice: What’s

the right thing to do? (Penguin)
[HOLIDAY READ]

• Provocative and readable

introduction to political philosophy
• Helps you to organise the main ‘ –
isms’ into a practical guide for
thinking normatively

Watch Michael Sandel on why we

shouldn’t trust markets in civic life

Hausman, Daniel., Michael McPherson,

Debra Satz, (2016), Economic analysis,
moral philosophy and public policy,
(Cambridge University Press)
[TECHNICAL READ]

• Chapters are technical but

rewarding
• Illustrates beyond doubt that
practicing economics is
unavoidably a philosophical
enterprise

Watch Debra Satz on why some things

should not be for sale
General interest podcasts

The podcasts here are not specifically related to the MPP or any of the core courses, but
cover topics, issues and debates with relevance to public policy, and can be an interesting
listen.

Hidden Brain - NPR

This is a great listen for anyone interested in psychology or behavioural
economics/science, and how these affect human behaviour, shape our choices and direct
our relationships.

Here is a selection of episodes to give a taste:

Predictably Unpredictable: Why We Don't Act Like We Should
An interview with the Nobel Prize winning behavioural economics pioneer, and author of
'Nudge" Richard Thaler, speaking on why people predictably don't act the way traditional
economists say they will.

Radio Replay: Crime As A Disease

Looking at whether science can help us find new ways to think about violent crime,
including a discussion of the policy implications of this, and whether crime can be treated
like a public health problem.

Radically Normal: How Gay Rights Activists Changed The Minds Of Their
Opponents
In 1988 fewer than 12 per cent of Americans thought gay couples should have the right to
marry. In 2018, 68 per cent thought gay people should have that right. This episode
examines the psychological strategies behind one of the most dramatic transformations of
public attitude ever recorded, and also the lessons this story holds for anyone who seeks
to bring about change.
Planet Money - NPR
A wide-ranging and varied podcast looking at all kinds of economic topics.

Here is a selection of episodes:

553: The Dollar At The Center Of The World

This episode looks at the Bretton Woods Conference, telling the story of how the
negotiations happened and why the dollar became the global reserve.

842: Showdown at the WTO

A fun examination of the World Trade Organisation - what it is and how it works.

873: The Seattle Experiment

Looking at Seattle's attempt to fight the influence of money in politics... by putting more
money in politics.

Talking Politics - University of Cambridge

A great podcast presented by Cambridge's Professor David Runciman, which has in-depth
discussions on everything from political economy, to Brexit, to the climate crisis.

Here is a selection of episodes:

68: Jan-Werner Müller on Populism

Is populism more than just an election-winning strategy?

87: Facebook vs the World

Talking about the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and about 'surveillance capitalism'.

159: David King on Climate Repair

Sir David King, former Chief Scientific Advisor to the British government about what's now
known about the scale of the threat and the urgency of the need for action.