London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

Modules

57
Social Policy

Social policy is concerned with the attempts of governments and other collective agencies to affect the welfare of individuals and groups. It can be studied in the context of developed or developing economies and from a variety of perspectives. The emphasis of this paper is comparative, looking at the ways in which different countries have addressed welfare issues and have variously ignored or responded to 'social problems'. It looks at comparisons between and within countries. It considers 'welfare states', and the diverse 'mixed economies of welfare' and debates on the proper role of state and family and of public or private agencies. It looks at the impact of welfare policies - and at what makes them work or fail. It considers several models of social welfare and the major factors which now influence the scale and form of welfare provisions in different countries - in key areas such as income services. Its emphasis is on contemporary social welfare issues, the debates which inform them in different countries and, not least, the effects of social policy responses.