This course introduces students to the theory and practice of social policy in Western advanced welfare states. Because it is not possible to cover all aspects of this com-plex social science discipline in one programme of study, this course focuses on se-lected key areas in the study of social policy.
In particular, the course aims to:

• Introduce students to key concepts and principles in social policy, such as ‘wel-fare’, “equality”, ‘social needs’, ‘social justice’, ‘solidarity’ and ‘new social risks’.
• Introduce students to the main research methods in social policy
• Introduce students to the historical perspective of social policy
• Examine competing ideological approaches to ‘welfare’ (e.g. liberal, Marxist, so-cial-democratic, ‘third-way’ etc.)
• Provide an overview of some of the core social policy areas (e.g. health policy, la-bour market policy, poverty and social exclusion, social economy)
• Introduce the concept of ‘welfare regime’ and provide an overview of the differ-ent welfare systems operating in Europe
• Examine the development of social policy at the European level (EU).
   

“The courses Social Policy and Topics on European Studies are offered jointly in both Departments of the School (PSIR and the Department of Education and Social Policy) only if there are Erasmus students in the current semester. If they are offered, they can be taken by students from both departments, PSIR and SEP.