Professional Public Decision-Making

The interdisciplinary two-year Master Course "Professional Public Decision Making", which started in the winter semester 2010/11, prepares B.A. graduates for future executive positions in public institutions and their private and civil society enviroment.

The course is interdisciplinary (law, political sciences, economics and philosophy) and aims to impart comprehensive compentencies for problem-solving in complex decision-makings situations, with special emphasis on practical application of the imparted knowledge.

Decision-making in public institutions and the patterns of decision implementation are determined by conflicting rationalities. Political opportunism, administrative postulates, economic efficiency and the legal framework seem to collide, leading to system paralysis in many areas. Institutions cannot adequately fulfill their functions in state and society. The legitimation of decision-makers diminishes. There are insufficient resources for many state and soical functions. Decisions that result from inadequate compromise thinking or situative constraints are frequently contrafunctional, with the consequence that many key problems of modern society and its institutions are not resolved or even addressed. We therefore require well-qualified decision-makers who, in complex decision-making situations, can successfully assess diverging requirements and different outcome dimensions of their actions. Decision-makers must be trained to develop their own assessment standards to cope with existing dilemmas, to generate new alternative solutions, and to be able to realise and communicate decisions in accordance with the siutation, problem and stakeholders.

It is the objective of the Master Course "Professional Public Decision Making"  to focus on interdisciplinary expert knowledge to provide future executives in public institutions with comprehensive competencies for complex decision-making situations. This includes analytical skills as well as normative authority and communicative competencies. In view of the complexity of the diverse contents and methods of decisions in public institutions, philosophical, economic, political, cultural and legal science problem analyses, solution and implementation approaches are discussed. The studies are complemented by practical courses, e.g. exercises. An eight-week internment is an integral part of the course.