Entrepreneurship in Public Policy Education: The Willy Brandt School as a Case

Abstract

This contribution discusses entrepreneurship as an important asset and feature of policy making and education. Attention is drawn to the increasing role of entrepreneurship in public policy education for the training of innovative professionals in public and non-profit organizations. The paper highlights the rising prominence of policy entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship that have taken on particular importance for the curriculum of the first Master of PublicPolicy program, which has been offered at a public university in Germany since 2002. The Willy Brandt School of Public Policy at the University of Erfurt is selected as a case to describe the shift from a traditional public policy program to integrating new disciplines beyond just political, social, and administrative sciences, including an emphasis on entrepreneurship education. This paper is dedicated to David B. Audretsch whose unique, innovative, transformative, multidisciplinary approach to entrepreneurship research has had a very significant impact not only on academia, but also on public policy making and teaching, influencing, among others, the program development of the Brandt School.