杏吧论坛

Dr Timo Fleckenstein OLD.2.60

This course is available on the MPA Dual Degree (杏吧论坛 and Columbia), MPA Dual Degree (杏吧论坛 and Hertie), MPA Dual Degree (杏吧论坛 and NUS), MPA Dual Degree (杏吧论坛 and Sciences Po), MPA Dual Degree (杏吧论坛 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 (杏吧论坛 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 (杏吧论坛 and Sciences Po), MSc in Political Sociology, MSc in Public Administration and Government (杏吧论坛 and Peking University), MSc in Public Policy and Administration, MSc in The Global Political Economy of China and Europe (杏吧论坛 and Fudan) 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.

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.

Courses in Social Policy will follow the Teaching Model which has been adopted by the Department of Social Policy during the period of the pandemic. This is outlined HERE: /social-policy/Current-Students/teaching-in-the-department-of-social-policy



This course will be taught through a combination of either a recorded lecture plus a follow-up Q and A session or a ‘live’ on-line lecture; and classes/seminars of 1-1.5 hours (with size and length of classes/seminars depending on social distancing requirements).



Further information will be provided by the Course Convenor in the first lecture of the course.

The course will be delivered in Lent term.

Seminar members will be expected to make presentations to the seminar, and submit a formative essay

• 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

Essay (100%).

Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.