Poslední úprava: Bc. Aneta Csikósová, DiS. (23.11.2021)
Course title: Introduction to Social Policy
Course number: JSM709
Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University
Academic year: 2021/2022
The web page of the course Moodle: Introduction to Social Policy (Password: IntroSP2021)
Course Guarantor and Teacher: Dr Eddy Bruno, Esien, PhD. Email: eddy@hiba.at
Study programs:(diff.) Bachelor, Master (or doctoral) programs, Public & Social Policy (VSP),
Scope of instruction: 1/1
Credits available: 4
Characteristic of the course:
This graduate course provides an overview to the introduction and development of social
policy. First, it describes contemporary aspects of providing and implementing welfare
(goods and services). Second, it provides some of the theoretical background to
understanding social policy and welfare provisions – philosophically, ideologically, and
methodologically. Lastly, it offers an overview of the key areas of social policy and welfare
goods and services policy making, processes, and implementation. Emphasis will also be
placed on different social policy aspects, notably transformation of the welfare state to
enabling state, migration, work and employment, social need, (public) values, pattern of
social inequality, the role of the government, actors, and mediating institutions (NGOs etc.)
in the provision and delivering of welfare sub production systems (activation policies,
employment policies, housing policies, education policies, etc.), welfare benefits (grants,
subsidies, public expenditure, cash transfer, tax-brakes, etc), globalization and social policy,
human rights principles in social policy, new thinking about social policy etc.
The course will be organised in the form of (a) lectures (13) and (b) seminars (13) where
students will actively work on topics covered in the recommended literatures.
Main Objectives:
The aim of the course is designed to give students and participants the opportunity to gain
basic insight into social policy in Europe. For instance, what is social policy? by what means
could social policy be provided in different societal context? what actors and institutions can
provide social policy? in what social situation? What is human rights value in social policy to
the public and beneficiaries? what is the impact of social policy (how it is measured?) to the
governments, actors, institutions, and beneficiaries etc? After completion of this course,
students and participants will be equipped with the knowledge necessary for understanding
social policies and to understand some of the key areas of social policy (such as family policy,
(Active) labour market policy, migration policy, work and employment policy, childcare
policy, disability policy, elderly care policy, healthcare policy, homelessness policy, housing
policy, education policy, etc)
The schedule of the course:
2
Lectures and Seminars:
Wednesday, 14:00 – 15:20 room JPEK 211 (Second floor) in Pekarska 16 (subway Nove
Butovice)
LECTURES and SEMINARS:
Dates: 29.09.2021; 06.10.2021; 13.10.2021; 20.10.2021; 27.10.2021; 03.11.2021;
10.11.2021; 24.11.2021; 01.12.2021; 08.12.2021; 15.12.2021; 22.12.2021; and 05.01.2021
Conditions of enrollment:
The course is optional for students of Czech and English Bachelor`s and master’s degree
programs of Public and Social Policy and some Doctoral students of Public and Social
Policy.
The course language is English
Study Obligations:
All students are obliged to:
Participate in lectures and seminars
Write 1 final seminar paper at the end of the course
Active participation in seminars
Evaluation: (maximum 1 bonus point pro seminar)
Evaluation of Final seminar paper (maximum points 100)
1. Required structure and length of seminar paper (12 pages) 15 point
2. How seminar paper is interesting and original? 55 points
3. Correctness and consistence of used arguments 15 points
4. Using an additional literature and scientific sources 15 points
Recommended structure of final seminar paper:
Times New Roman, 12pt, APA referencing and citation style, 12 pages (excluding content &
references)
Writing Style: (Context, Content, and Conclusion – The 3 Cs)
Introduction (Context) - general statement, definition(s) (optional), scope of paper,
(To tell the reader what you intend to cover in the paper, to introduce reader to the topic, to
explain what is understood by some key words/concepts.)
Main body (Content) of seminar paper – arguments, evidence,
(To express important ideas and support them with examples)
Conclusion – summary, relate the argument to a more general world view,
(To underline the writer´s point of view and remind the reader of the key ideas)
Possible topics for final paper
1. The welfare and social policy definition and its development.
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1. How does social policy study involve?
2. What are the principals means through which government can implement social
policy?
3. Defining need and its importance in social policy
4. Why is demographic change important in social policy?
5. The welfare state and social inequality.
6. How and why are young people more vulnerable to unemployment?
7. Think about the different forms of welfare provided within families: who mainly
provides, and who mainly receives, these different forms of welfare
8. “Young people are a threat and old people are a burden”. What does this statement
tell us about the social construction of youth and old age?
9. What are the most important aims of social security system?
10. How are effectives means tests?
11. Identify at least three different approaches to comparative social policy.
12. Why is cross-national comparison not always the most suitable way to conduct
comparative social policy analysis?
13. Discuss some possible social consequences of globalization and social policy.
14. What kinds of challenges to social policy are involved in the study of globalization?
15. Does increased spending on a policy mean that need is being better met?
16. Explain the difference between the inputs, outputs, and outcomes of social policy
17. How has social policy come to regard social inclusion as a key point of reference?
18. What are the main characteristics of different types of the European welfare?
Final Evaluation
A – Excellent
B – Very good
C - Good
D - Satisfying
E – Sufficiently
F- Fail
Body Result
91 – 100 A – Excellent
4
Excellent performance with only minor
mistakes
81 – 90 B - Very good
Above average performance with some errors
71 – 80 C – Good
Overall good performance with significant
errors
61 - 70 D – Satisfying
acceptable performance,
but with considerable
shortcomings
51 - 60 E – Sufficiently
Performance meets minimal requirements
0 – 50 F – Fail
A considerable amount of additional work is
needed
Construction of students’ performance evaluation:
Activity Points (up to)
Final seminar paper 100
Total 100%
Core reference resource (available in Moodle):
Reading for students.
Study materials - Mandatory
Baldock, John; Manning, Nicholas; Vickerstaff, Sarah (2007). Social policy. Oxford University
Press
Jane, Pillinger (2008). The Migration-Social Policy Nexus: Current and Future Research.
United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), p. 1-26
Supplementary sources:
F. G. Castles, S. Leibfried, J. Lewis, H. Obinger, Ch. Pierson (2010). The Oxford Handbook of
the Welfare State. Oxford University Press, part II, VII, VIII
Pierson, Christopher; Castles, Francis. (2006). The welfare state reader. Cambridge; Polity
Press, 2006
Organization of the course:
Date: 29.09.2021: Lecture and seminar 1: Welcome and Introduction to the course.
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Date: 06.10.2021: Lecture and seminar 2: What is social policy? Tools and mechanism of
social policy (cash benefits, grants, subsidies, tax credits/breaks, grants, and social services).
Text 1: Alison McClelland: What is Social Policy, Retrieved from
http://lib.oup.com.au/he/samples/mcclelland_SPA3e_sample.pdf
Text 2: The Structure of Social Services – status in the Czech Republic, Retrieved from
https://www.mpsv.cz/web/en/social-services
Text 3: THE OECD TAX-BENEFIT MODEL FOR CZECH REPUBLIC Description of policy rules for
2018 (Read here: http://www.oecd.org/els/soc/TaxBEN-Czech-Republic-2018.pdf
Date: 13.10.2021: Lecture and seminar 3: The transformation of the welfare state, actors,
institutions, other players, and their role in social policymaking and development.
Text 1: Manning, Nick (2003): The politics of Welfare. In Social Policy (Eds), Baldock et al. 31-
49
https://dl1.cuni.cz/pluginfile.php/489618/mod_resource/content/2/Text%202.pdf
Text 2: Assar Lindbeck (2006). The Welfare State – Background, Achievements,
Problems, Retrieved from http://www.ifn.se/Wfiles/wp/wp662.pdf
Text 3: Esien, E.B (2019). Principal-Agent Relations and Contracting-out for Employment
Governance, Retrieved from DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nispa-2019-0012
Date: 20.10.2021: Lecture and seminar 4: Values, ethics, norms, and (human rights)
principles in social policy making, processes, development, and implementation.
Text 1: Sarah B. Garlington (2014): Value orientations of social welfare policy structures. Int
J Soc Welfare: 23: 287–295. DOI: 10.1111/ijsw.12056, Retrieved from
http://szociologiaszak.uni-miskolc.hu/segedanyagok/SocialWelfare.pdf
Text 2: Esien E. B. (2020) Decision making, Interest Intermediation, and Value: In
Government, Public and Private Agencies Corporatism for Work Promotion. Retrieved at
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/danb-2020-0019
Date: 27.10.2021: Lecture and seminar 5: Employment, work, welfare, and social policy –
the importance of work in social policy. How the world of work has changed and the role of
the government, policy actors, and institutions in these changes?
Text 1: UNRISD (2015): Social Policy and Employment: REBUILDING THE CONNECTIONS,
http://www.unrisd.org/80256B3C005BCCF9/(httpAuxPages)/AEB4A2E095603CCCC1257B09
004A005E/$file/03%20-%20Social%20Policy%20and%20Employment.pdf
Text 2: Esien, E. B. (2020). Enabling state and third-country nationals: in local government
and private agencies contracting for counselling. In: Kariérové poradenstvo v teórii a praxi
[online], 2020 (17), pp. 21-43. Available at (in English language)
https://www.euroguidance.sk/document/casopis/17/03_kpj_1-2020_17_esien_en.pdf (in
Czech language) https://www.euroguidance.sk/document/casopis/17/03_kpj_1-
2020_17_esien_sk.pdf
Date: 03.11.2021: Lecture and seminar 6: Family policy, healthcare policy, and social policy.
Changes taking place in the life of families, their children, and households.
Text 1: Introduction: Family Life and Social Policy:
http://www.sociology.org.uk/notes/fpolicy.pdf
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Text 2: Milton Terris (1968). A Social Policy for the Health:
https://dl1.cuni.cz/pluginfile.php/1091656/mod_resource/content/2/250_HealthPolicy.pdf
Text 3: Esien, E. B. (2020) Enabling state and Unemployed: Direct measures, psychological
plane, and supportive services for work promotion. Available at
https://repository.mruni.eu/bitstream/handle/007/16965/STICS_2020_8_88-
99.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Date: 10.11.2021: Lecture and Seminar 7: The principles that underline family policy and
the impact of recent policy changes.
Text 1: Gerda Neyer (2010): Welfare States, Family Policies, and Fertility in Europe,
Stockholm University Linnaeus Center on Social Policy and Family Dynamics in Europe, SPaDE
Retrieved from
http://www.su.se/polopoly_fs/1.105072.1350482738!/menu/standard/file/WP_2012_10.pd
f
Date: 24.11.2021: Lecture and seminar 8: The politics of (social, labour market, welfare,
wages, income etc.) Inequalities and social policy: The role of poverty, inequality, and social
policy
Text 1: Regina Jutz (2015): The role of income inequality and social policies on income-
related health inequalities in Europe. Jutz International Journal for Equity in Health 14:117
DOI 10.1186/s12939-015-0247-y. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4628290/pdf/12939_2015_Article_247.pdf
Text 2: European Union (2019). Income inequality and support for redistribution across
Europe. Available at
https://dl1.cuni.cz/pluginfile.php/1314474/mod_resource/content/1/fairness_pb2019_redis
tribution.pdf
Date: 01.12.2021: Lecture and seminar 9: Welfare dependency (childcare, elderly care etc.,)
and social policy implications.
Text 1: PETER TOWNSEND: The Structured Dependency of the Elderly: A Creation of Social
Policy in the Twentieth Century" Retrieved from
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/c104/0aecf4384748514c906533cae08c06809f02.pdf
Text 2: Esien, E.B (2020). Newsletter of the ESA Research Network on Ageing in Europe
(RN01), Issue 27, Spring 2020. Available at
https://www.europeansociology.org/sites/default/files/public/Coordinator/ESAnews_2020_
27.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1uKIVdSnfR9bnCVOTgmRQVD6_brbMiVenaXBAnI96sYtl_2bwqRFoxYdw
(Page 8)
Date: 08.12.2021: Lecture and seminar 10: Global Social Policy: The impacts of globalization
on welfare/enabling states and social policy
Text 1: Alexander Rygner H. (2010): The consequences for globalization for Welfare States,
Retrieved from https://ibpunion.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/the-consequences-of-
globalization-for-welfare-states-ps-exam101.pdf
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Date: 15.12.2021 Lecture and seminar 11: Migration policy and governance: (Im) Migration,
work, and welfare governance
Text 1: Elena Jurado, Grete Brochmann & Jon Erik Dølvik (2013): Immigration, Work and
Welfare: Towards an integrated approach. A discussion Paper, Policy Network Paper,
Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/TEMP.JINONICE.025/Downloads/PN%20PAPER%20-
%20IMMIGRATION-WORK-WELFARE%20v5-1.pdf
Text 2: Esien, E., B. (2019). Principal-Agent Relations and Contracting-out for Employment
Case Management to Enable Third-Country Nationals’ Transition to Work. The NISPAcee
Journal of Public Administration and Policy, Volume XII, Number 2, p.9-
28 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nispa-2019-0012
Text 3: Migration Data Portal: Migration policies and governance. Available at
https://www.migrationdataportal.org/ar/themes/migrationspolitik-und-regierungsfuehrung
Date: 22.12.2021: Lecture and Seminar 12: Migration, social policy protection, and
arrangements I
Text 1: UNRISD (2007). Social Policy and Migration: Available at
https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/95066/cn21e.pdf
Text 2: Sebates-Wheeler Rachel and Waite Myrtha (2003). Migration and Social Protection:
A Conceptual Paper. Available at
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Units/SCMR/drc/publications/working_papers/WP-T2.pdf
Date: 05.01.2021: Lecture and Seminar 13: Migration, social policy protection, and
enabling state arrangements II: Evidence from supportive services, and activation measures
etc.
Text 1: ILO: Social protection for migrants’ workers. Available at
https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/labour-migration/policy-areas/social-protection/lang--
en/index.htm
Text 2: Esien (2020) Enabling state and unemployed: Direct measures, psychological plane,
and supportive services for work promotion. Available at
https://repository.mruni.eu/bitstream/handle/007/16965/STICS_2020_8_88-
99.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Text 3: Esien (2021) Employment subsidies, capacity reinforcement, and sanction: In
government activation governance for work promotion in Austria, Finland, and the Czech
Republic (Page 208-209)
Final Paper: Submit your final seminar paper until January 05, 2022!!!!
Social Policy Journals:
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Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy:
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rjcs21/current
Journal of Social Policy: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-social-policy
Critical Social Policy - SAGE Journals: http://journals.sagepub.com/loi/cspa
Journal of European Social Policy - All Issues: SAGE Journals:
http://journals.sagepub.com/loi/espa
The Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice (JCPA):
https://comparativepolicy.org/
Global Social Policy - All Issues: SAGE Journals: http://journals.sagepub.com/loi/gspa
Social Policy Review: http://journals.cambridge.org/spd/action/home
Social Policy and Society: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/social-policy-and-
society
Links to diverse Journals: https://blogg.hioa.no/espanet/links/journals/
Social policy websites and blogs
Paul Spicker blog about an introduction to Social Policy: http://www.spicker.uk/social-
policy/content.htm
Social Work Library - Social Policy Websites:
https://www.library.wisc.edu/socialwork/research-help/social-issues-websites/social-policy-
websites/
Social Policy and Social Work: Key Websites: http://libguides.ucd.ie/appliedsocsci/websites
Social Policy - Useful websites:
http://guides.library.lincoln.ac.uk/c.php?g=110718&p=717619
The European Network for Social Policy Analysis: https://blogg.hioa.no/espanet/
