Unit information: International Political Economy and Social Policy in 2021/22

Unit name	International Political Economy and Social Policy
Unit code	SPOL20063
Credit points	20
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Oscar Berglund
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School for Policy Studies
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

This unit will explore the connections between political economy and social policy. Political economy is about the distribution of power and money in society, whilst social policy is about welfare and meeting people’s needs. The unit thus sets out to understand how the distribution of power and money affects the ability of states and other actors to meet people’s needs. It addresses this question through an everyday approach that seeks to link everyday experiences to global phenomena, institutions and processes. The first few weeks of the unit discuss various ways in which scholars have theorised political economy and social policy. We then move on to study broad areas of international political economy and social policy, such as debt, housing, work, climate change and race.

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit students will be:

1. Able to critically assess how political economy shapes social policy at different levels;
2. Able to critically assess how everyday experiences relate to global processes;
3. Understand a variety of approaches to international political economy and social policy;
4. Able to apply various theoretical approaches which have been used to explain patterns of social policy development across nations.

Teaching Information

Depending on broader context, this unit plans to have a 1-2 hour lecture and a 1 hour seminar.

Assessment Information

Part 1: Annotated bibliography (1000 words) (25%)

Part 2: Encyclopaedia of Comparative Political Economy and Social Policy entry (2000 words) (75%)

The first assessment build towards the second one. The Second Assessment will follow a specific structure that encourages the student to engage explicitly with theory and the connections between the everyday, social policy and political economy as set out and defined in the unit description and ILOs.

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. SPOL20063).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.