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for a past academic year. Please see the current academic year for up to date information.
| Unit name |
State, Market and Social Policy |
| Unit code |
SPOL21009 |
| Credit points |
20 |
| Level of study |
I/5
|
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
|
| Unit director |
Professor. Alex Marsh |
| Open unit status |
Open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department |
School for Policy Studies |
| Faculty |
Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Description including Unit Aims
Students will be required to analyse the motives behind (and the consequences of) administrative restructuring of the welfare state that took place in the 1980s and continues in the 1990s. Teaching will be through a mixture of lectures and seminars: assessment will be by conventional exam.
The aims of the unit are to:
- provide a critical introduction to the key economic ideas that are applied to the analysis of social policy
- demonstrate the way in which economic thinking can be used to examine key policy areas
- introduce students to changes in the nature of public provision, management and finance in the UK and explore how such changes can be related to economic ideas
- examine the relationship between theory and policy
Intended Learning Outcomes
By the end of this unit the student should:
- Be able to explain the advantages and disadvantages of markets as a method of allocating resources.
- Be capable of assessing the relative merits of different mechanisms for addressing social policy objectives.
- Understand the implications of economic thinking for contemporary social policy debates
- Be able to give an account of the key aspects of a policy issue from an economic perspective.
Teaching Information
Lectures and seminars.
Assessment Information
Assessment will be against the programme criteria defined for the appropriate level.
Formative assessment:
One 2000-2500 word essay
Summative assessment :
Level I - 3000 word essay
Reading and References
- Bailey, S. J. (2002) Public sector economics, MacMillan.
- Le Grand, J., Propper, C. and Robinson, R. (1992) The economics of social problems, 3rd ed, MacMillan.
- Barr, N. (2004) The economics of the welfare state, 4th ed, OUP.
- Sloman, J. (2001) Essentials of economics, (2nd ed) Prentice Hall.
- Stiglitz, J. (2000) The economics of the public sector, 3rd ed, Norton.
