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 1970s, with the subsequent rise of the neoliberal welfare state: Why did the crisis arise, what were the challenges and how were they solved? The course further highlights 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? Here the focus is on the so-called "social investment perspective", and how this differs from the traditional Keynesian welfare state and the neoliberal welfare state, respectively. The course 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.

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 about the crisis of the welfare state in the 1970s in the wake of the oil crisis and stagflation, and about the neoliberal reforms that followed in many countries
• have knowledge of the background for the many reforms of the welfare state in recent decades, and how this has changed the goals, tasks and organization of the services
• have knowledge of the «new welfare state», what internal and external challenges it faces, and what are the main elements of "the social investment perspective"

Skills - the student shall demonstrate the ability to:

• describe welfare states and the development of welfare policy in different systems
• use key terms to analyze challenges in the welfare state
• use relevant theoretical approaches to the welfare state to explain variations between countries, and to analyze the distribution of power and resources in the services

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 six or fewer students sign up for a planned course during the first two teaching weeks, the course will be offered as an instructed reading course.

Required previous knowledge

Master's degree in Political Science or equivalent.

Course materials

To be decided at the start of the course.

Credit reductions