SA4C9      Half Unit
Social Policy - Organisation and Innovation

This information is for the 2013/14 session.

Teacher responsible

Prof Eileen Munro OLD2.46

Availability

This course is compulsory on the MSc in Social Policy (Social Policy and Planning). This course is available on the MSc in China in Comparative Perspective, MSc in Criminal Justice Policy, MSc in Gender, Policy and Inequalities, MSc in Health, Population and Society, MSc in Public Management and Governance, MSc in Social Policy (European and Comparative Social Policy) and MSc in Social Policy (Research). This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

Course content

This course examines the organisation of social policy, structures, processes and delivery, and recent developments in social policy in industrialised countries. The course examines how policy debates affect policy implementation, with a particular focus on innovation, identifying the social forces influencing the relevant policy changes, and examining the practical consequences for service provision in industrialised countries. Changes in the organisational structure and management approach, in the nature of social control, and in the social and economic context are examined.

Teaching

10 hours of lectures and 15 hours of seminars in the LT. 1 hour and 30 minutes of seminars in the ST.

Indicative reading

Yeates, N., Haux, T., Jawad, R, & Kilkey, M. (eds.) (2011) In defence of welfare: The impact of the spending review, Social Policy Association ; Le Grand J. The Other Invisible Hand: Delivering Public Services Through Choice and Competition. New York: Princeton University Press, 2007. Chapters 2 & 4; D Garland, The Culture of Control, Oxford University Press (2001); Hills, John (2011) The changing architecture of the UK welfare state. Oxford review of economic policy, 27 (4). pp. 589-607; Hills, John et al (2010) An anatomy of economic inequality in the UK: report of the National Equality Panel. CASEreport 60. Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE; M Powell, Evaluating New Labour's Welfare Reforms, Policy Press (2002); G Lewis, Race, Gender and Social Welfare: encounters in a post colonial society, Polity Press (2000); M. Banton Discrimination (1994); Stern, N. (2007), The economics of climate change: the Stern Review. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Assessment

Exam (75%, duration: 2 hours) in the main exam period.
Essay (25%, 2000 words) in the ST.

Student performance results

(2009/10 - 2011/12 combined)

Classification % of students
Distinction 8.8
Merit 75.7
Pass 14
Fail 1.5

Key facts

Department: Social Policy

Total students 2012/13: 46

Average class size 2012/13: 15

Value: Half Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

Course survey results

(2010/11 - 2012/13 combined)

1 = "best" score, 5 = "worst" score

The scores below are average responses.

Response rate: 75.9%

Question

Average
response

Reading list (Q2.1)

2.2

Materials (Q2.3)

2.2

Course satisfied (Q2.4)

2.1

Lectures (Q2.5)

1.9

Integration (Q2.6)

2

Contact (Q2.7)

2

Feedback (Q2.8)

2.4

Recommend (Q2.9)

Yes

66.7%

Maybe

24.8%

No

8.5%