This course will seek to develop an historic and conceptual understanding of how social policy and welfare structures have evolved over the last 150 years. It will critically assess the performance of welfare systems and the policy solutions they produce to address specific social problems.

Finally, it will examine a number of contemporary policy issues - for example: welfare service delivery, program access and funding, volunteerism, mutual obligation, income redistribution, poverty reduction, plus the changing level and role of government intervention - as illustrations of the recurrent nature of social problems.

In this course you will apply conceptual frameworks in order to better understand the changing nature of social policy and critically evaluate how the interrelationship between politics, civil society and the economy has and continues to shape social policy outcomes. You will explore the historical influences shaping both social policy and the structure of welfare states in order to be able to offer thoughtful analysis and opinions on the direction of contemporary social policy in relation to earlier historical trends. You will also apply the knowledge and skills you develop in this course to real-world situations and workplaces.