Eric Luedtke’s work focuses on legislative decision-making processes and how they shape the development of public policy at the state and local level. His teaching is driven by a desire to help students develop their own leadership skills and engage in the innovative policy development work that goes on in America’s ‘laboratories of democracy’, the statehouses. As director of the State and Local Government Initiative, he helps develop innovative training programs for state and local officials across the country.
In addition to his work at the School of Public Policy, Luedtke has served as an elected member of the Maryland House of Delegates since 2011. He currently serves as House Majority Leader, and has served in a variety of legislative leadership roles in the past, including as chair of the Education Subcommittee and of the House Democratic Caucus.
Luedtke earned his BA in government and history in 2002, and his MEd in secondary education in 2004, both at the University of Maryland, College Park. He lives in Ashton, Maryland with his fiance and their four children.
A survey course, focusing on public policy institutions and analytical issues as well as on overview of key public policy problems. Students will be introduced to public policy as a discipline, with a brief overview of the actors and institutions involved in the process, and familiarize themselves with the kinds of problems typically requiring public action. The course will examine these problems from a multijurisdictional and multisectoral perspective. Specific policy areas examined include education policy, health policy, economic and budgetary policy, criminal justice policy, environmental policy, and national and homeland security policy. The course should permit students to have broad foundational exposure to the field that will give them a solid base for more advanced courses.
Schedule of Classes
This course aims to inspire, teach and engage students in the theory and practice of public leadership from the local to the national to the global level. Students will learn and apply diverse approaches to leadership in a multicultural society while developing an understanding of key frameworks and practices necessary to foster collective action across private, public, and nonprofit sectors. Students will also explore and assess their own personal values, beliefs, and purpose as they develop their leadership potential. Finally, students will understand the leadership skills and challenges particular to their role as a future policymaker.
Schedule of Classes
Understanding pluralism and how groups and individuals coexist in society is an essential part of the public policy process. This course will examine the ways in which the diverse experiences of race, gender, ethnicity, class, orientation, identity, and religion impact the understanding of and equitable delivery of public policy. The examination of how identity development shapes our understanding of society and influences the decision-making process is central to students’ shaping policy that is truly for the people. This course will equip students with the skills needed to analyze pluralism and draw conclusions about the application of various theories to public policy issues.
Schedule of Classes
