POLI06005 2022 Policy Making and the Policy Process

Understand the importance and significance of ideological, political, cultural and economic influences on the development of policy

Appreciate the differing interpretation of social problems and the influencing factors on ensuing responses

Identify the key underlying concepts of social policy

Critically explore key policy issues related to welfare and social policy debates in contemporary Ireland.

Understand the key concepts relating to the organisation and delivery of welfare.

Appreciate the history, evolution and development of social policy in Ireland.

The lectures will be interactive, giving the students the opportunity to discuss and debate their interpretations and understandings of contemporary social policy problems and challenges. Teaching and learning strategies will include incorporate principles of UDL, incorporating role play, case studies, group discussion, small group activities, class field trip with the supports of the IT’s VLE.

There are three assessment components to this module:

• Policy Analysis  -The students will undertake a case study examining a contemporary policy issue.  This will comprise of a learning portfolio, presentation and final report. 

Repeat assessment will be developed based on failed component. 

LO1 :Understand the importance and significance of ideological, political, cultural and economic influences on the development of policy.

In this module, we will explore such questions as, what is social policy and how does it impact on people's everyday lives?  We will consider the function of government, what is the welfare state and what are the aims and functions of a welfare strategy? We will explore the relationship between ideology and social welfare and what we mean by, right and left views of welfare and critically debate what values should inform social policy development and how resources should be distributed.

LO 2: Appreciate the differing interpretation of social problems and the influencing factors on ensuing responses.

Focusing on contemporary social challenges such as children’s rights, housing, health care delivery, ageing societies, crime and homelessness, we will consider, what is a Social Problem? How is a social problem constructed? What paradigms are used to interpret a problem? How is problem definition and policy development, influenced by political, economic, cultural, demographic and social factors? 

LO 3: Identify the key underlying concepts of social policy.

We will examine the policy making process. What are the key objectives of social policy? What do we mean by agenda setting, policy formulation and decision making? What are the respective roles of politicians and civil servants in relation to the policy formulation process?

LO 4: Critically explore key policy issues related to welfare and social policy debates in contemporary Ireland.

We will explore a variety of contemporary social challenges such as children’s rights, housing, health care delivery, ageing societies, crime and homelessness facing Ireland and the wider international arena.

LO 5: Understand the key concepts relating to the organisation and delivery of welfare.

We will consider the meaning of the welfare states, what is the social division of welfare, what do we mean by welfare pluralism, its relationship with funding allocation and the role of the public, private, voluntary and informal sector in social policy/welfare provision. Situating our discussion in a comparative context we will consider the utility of  'welfare state typologies' and how they can inform on our understanding of welfare state design and policy reform.

LO 6: Appreciate the history, evolution and development of social policy in Ireland.

Through our analysis of contemporary social policy issues and policy frameworks we will develop an appreciation of the history, evolution and development of social policy in Ireland.