SP441 Half Unit
Politics of Social Policy
This information is for the 2025/26 session.
Course Convenor
Prof Timo Fleckenstein
Availability
This course is available on the MSc in International Social and Public Policy, MSc in International Social and Public Policy (Development), MSc in International Social and Public Policy (Education), 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 Science (Conflict Studies and Comparative Politics), MSc in Political Sociology and MSc in Public Policy and Administration. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. This course uses controlled access as part of the course selection process.
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 rich democracies of the OECD world. The main analytical approaches for the cross-national analysis of welfare states are introduced, and different actors in social policy-making are studied. Empirically, the course draws on historical evidence and the transformation of contemporary welfare states, including in-depth analysis of labour market, family and education policies in Nordic countries, Continental Europe, Anglo-phone countries and East Asia.
Teaching
15 hours of seminars and 15 hours of lectures in the Winter Term.
This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Winter Term.
All teaching will be in accordance with the LSE Academic Code which specifies a minimum of two hours taught contact time per week when the course is running in the Autumn Term (AT) and/or Winter Term (WT). 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.
Formative assessment
Essay in Winter Term Week 7
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%) in Spring Term Week 1
Key facts
Department: Social Policy
Course Study Period: Winter Term
Unit value: Half unit
FHEQ Level: Level 7
CEFR Level: Null
Total students 2024/25: 27
Average class size 2024/25: 14
Controlled access 2024/25: NoCourse selection videos
Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.