SIW4000 Comparative Social Welfare Theory and Concepts Course description

This course presents key concepts and analytical models used in comparative analyses of social welfare policies.

None.

A student who has completed his or her qualification has the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student

• has thorough knowledge of concepts in the history and theory of welfare, such as the principle of eligibility, self-reliance, dependency, stigma, reciprocity, altruism, discretion, universalism and selectivity
• has advanced knowledge of explanatory models, such as the logic of industrialism, state-centred approaches, and power resource theory
• can analyse central concepts within comparative welfare studies, such as welfare regimes, decommodification, defamilisation, and social risks

Skills

The student

• can apply theoretical concepts and explanatory models in the analysis of social policies, in a national as well as international context
• is able to critically evaluate the use of concepts and models by scholars writing about social policies

The course is organised into a series of lectures and seminars. Students are expected to play an active role. Students will also be required to present papers, and discuss course themes during lectures and seminars.

Students must submit a coursework requirement of 18 pages (+/-10%) on a topic relevant to the course, to be approved by the course lecturer. The topic of the work requirement will reflect main areas of the course curriculum and lectures. The coursework requirement should be written in groups of 4-6 students. Students whose papers are not approved after the first submission will be given the chance to resubmit once and they may be required to resubmit papers of about 10 pages individually. Students whose papers are not approved after two submissions will disqualify from sitting the final examination.

The student's learning outcome will be assessed on the basis of an individual six-hour written school examination.

Students may use a spelling dictionary, as well as a bilingual dictionary during the written school exam.

Students are awarded grades on a descending scale from A to E for pass and F for fail.

The written examination is assessed by an internal and an external examiner. The external examiner grades a random sample consisting of 25 per cent of the written exams. The grades given for this sample provide a basis for internal examiners who will be grading the other exams. The external examiner will also grade papers where there is doubt about giving a grade of pass.

Ivan Harsløf