Course content

This course gives an introduction to the study of the welfare state and health policy in a comparative perspective. In recent decades, European welfare states have undergone extensive changes in terms of their goals, priorities and instruments, and today’s welfare state is radically different compared to the one that emerged in the last century. This course first gives an introduction to the traditional welfare state: why did we get welfare states, what are their tasks and why are they so different across countries? Next, the course will shed light on the crisis that emerged in the welfare state of many countries in the 1990s: why did the crisis arise, what were the challenges and how were they solved? The third part of the course deals with what we can call "the new welfare state": why is there still a need for reforms of the welfare state, what makes such reforms so difficult and why are they still implemented, what characterizes the policy of the new welfare state, and will it be able to survive the new internal and external challenges it faces? The course consistently uses the health sector to give students a practical and empirical understanding of the issues that are introduced. The health system is the most important and cost-driving part of the welfare state, and because of that it is also the sector that has undergone the most dramatic changes. Many of the reforms have challenged traditional bureaucratic and professional management by introducing principles from the private sector. These changes are often associated with the label "New Public Management" where a fundamental goal has been to achieve a leaner and more efficient public sector with less emphasis on rules and processes and more emphasis on results. Even in countries that traditionally have had universal and publicly controlled welfare states, such as the Nordic countries, more competition and market logic have now been introduced on the assumption that this will increase quality and provide more efficient services. What do these changes mean for the political governance and administration of the welfare state?

Learning outcome

Knowledge - the student shall:

• have knowledge of the most important development features of the welfare state, and of the main features of differences between different countries in terms of scope, tasks and organization
• have knowledge of the background for the many reforms of the welfare state in the 1990s, and how this has changed the goals, tasks and organization of the services
• have knowledge of main types of health systems and health policy in a comparative perspective
• be in the forefront of knowledge of the health reforms of recent decades in different countries, and how this has changed the structure and organization of health systems
• be in the forefront of knowledge of the «new welfare state», and what internal and external challenges it faces

Skills - the student shall demonstrate the ability to:

• describe welfare states and the development of health policy in different systems
• use key terms to analyze challenges in the welfare state
• use relevant theoretical approaches to welfare state and health policy to explain variations between countries, and to analyze the distribution of power and resources in the services
• treat one of the themes which was discussed in instruction in an independent empirical analytical manner which is at a high international level

Learning methods and activities

Lectures/group discussions equivalent to 4 hours per week. Supervision of term paper. The essay is to be an independent discussion of a topic taught in lectures, and is to consist of 20 pages. If 6 or fewer students sign up for a planned course during the first 2 teaching weeks, the course will be offered as an instructed reading course.

Recommended previous knowledge

See formal requirements.

Required previous knowledge

Master's degree in Political Science or equivalent.

Course materials

To be decided at the start of the course.

Credit reductions