Not available in 2023/24
SP441 Half Unit
Politics of Social Policy: Welfare and Work in Comparative Perspective
This information is for the 2023/24 session.
Teacher responsible
Prof Timo Fleckenstein OLD.2.60
Availability
This course is available on the MPA Dual Degree (LSE and Columbia), MPA Dual Degree (LSE and Hertie), MPA Dual Degree (LSE and NUS), MPA Dual Degree (LSE and Sciences Po), MPA Dual Degree (LSE and Tokyo), MSc in Comparative Politics, MSc in International Social and Public Policy, MSc in International Social and Public Policy (Development), MSc in International Social and Public Policy (LSE and Fudan), MSc in International Social and Public Policy (Migration), MSc in International Social and Public Policy (Non-Governmental Organisations), MSc in International Social and Public Policy (Research), MSc in Political Economy of Europe, MSc in Political Economy of Europe (LSE and Fudan) , MSc in Political Economy of Europe (LSE and Sciences Po), MSc in Political Sociology, MSc in Public Administration and Government (LSE and Peking University), MSc in Public Policy and Administration and Master of Public Administration. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.
All Social Policy Courses are ‘Controlled Access’. Please see the link below for further details on the allocation process.
https://info.lse.ac.uk/current-students/services/course-choice/controlled-access-courses
Course content
The course explores the politics of social policy in advanced political economies. In the first part of the course, the main analytical approaches for the cross-national analysis of welfare states are introduced (such as the industrialism thesis, the power resources model, new institutionalism, feminist theory and the globalisation thesis). These will be examined in the context of the rise of modern welfare states and their transformations since the end of the 'Golden Age' in the mid-1970s. These analyses and the theoretical approaches to cross-national study of welfare states will be harnessed in the second part of the course when the focus shifts towards more recent policy developments since the 1990s. The empirical focus is on the welfare-and-work nexus. The course analyses the development of labour market and family policies in Nordic countries, Continental Europe, Anglo-phone countries and East Asia.
Teaching
Courses in Social Policy follow the Teaching Model outlined on the following page: https://www.lse.ac.uk/social-policy/Current-Students/teaching-in-the-department-of-social-policy
All teaching will be in accordance with the LSE Academic Code (https://info.lse.ac.uk/current-students/lse-academic-code) which specifies a "minimum of two hours taught contact time per week when the course is running in the Michaelmas and/or Lent terms". Social Policy courses are predominantly taught through a combination of in-person Lectures and In person classes/seminars. Further information will be provided by the Course Convenor in the first lecture of the course.
The course will be delivered in Lent term.
Formative coursework
Seminar members will be expected to make presentations to the seminar, and submit a formative essay
Indicative reading
- Bonoli, Giuliano, and Natali, David, eds. (2012) The Politics of the New Welfare State, Oxford: OUP.
- Castles, Frances G. et al., eds. (2010) The Oxford Handbook of the Welfare State, Oxford: OUP.
- Clasen, Jochen, and Clegg, Daniel, eds. (2013) Regulating the Risk of Unemployment: National Adaptations to Post-Industrial Labour Markets in Europe, Oxford: OUP.
- Kersbergen, Kees van and Vis, Barbara (2013) Comparative Welfare State Politics: Development, Opportunities, and Reform, Cambridge: CUP.
- Lewis, Jane (2009) Work-Family Balance, Gender and Policy, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar
Assessment
Essay (100%).
Student performance results
(2019/20 - 2021/22 combined)
Classification | % of students |
---|---|
Distinction | 21.8 |
Merit | 57.5 |
Pass | 18.4 |
Fail | 2.3 |
Key facts
Department: Social Policy
Total students 2022/23: 27
Average class size 2022/23: 14
Controlled access 2022/23: Yes
Lecture capture used 2022/23: Yes (LT)
Value: Half Unit
Course selection videos
Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.