This course deals with the justifications for government activities, how to design programs consistent with these justifications, the effects of major existing and proposed expenditure programs and taxes, and positive and normative analyses of political systems.  It will cover the largest areas of government activity in the U.S., namely, health, education, welfare, retirement, and to lesser extents national defense and environmental protection, and the largest tax used to finance these activities, the federal individual income tax. Its primary purpose is to develop your ability to think clearly about public policy issues.