PEP100 | Contract Management & Negotiations

Course Description

Increasingly, public services are provided through private agencies. Public authorities enter into a range of contracts for this purpose. For a public administrator or a private person engaging with the state, managing contracts is not just a ‘legal’ or ‘compliance’ exercise. Public authorities need to make decisions regarding when such contracts should be entered into, how such contracts should be designed, how awards are made, and other procurement rules, by evaluating policy objectives and Constitutional principles. The subject matter of the course is divided into four modules. The first module will introduce principles of contract law and the manner in which contracts are regulated by the State. The subsequent modules will cover concepts in relation to the formation, performance, and breach of government contracts, judicial review of government contracts, public-private partnerships, and evolution in procurement policies to achieve policy outcomes.

Besides traditional public procurement, there will be a special focus on public-private partnerships in the context of developing countries. In this module, students will learn how governments and private players collaborate on long-term projects using case studies. Students will be expected to prepare for sessions with case studies before the class.

This course will draw on analytical methods in the legal, policy analysis, and management disciplines to study contract management with respect to public goods and services. This course will provide students with analytical tools to evaluate how contracts involving public goods need to be grounded in Constitutional principles, how public-private partnerships can be structured and financed, and how government contracts and procurement policies can achieve particular policy outcomes.

Relevance to public policy students: Public policy practitioners, whether contracting with or acting on behalf of the State, must be aware of broader structural features of public contracting in order to effectively engage with the state. This is as true of specific but ubiquitous mechanisms such as procurement documents and public-private partnerships, as it is with myriad other forms of contracts with the State.