Politics and Policy

Loading...

From the course by Columbia University

What Is the Welfare State? A Cross-National Comparison

6 ratings

Columbia University

What Is the Welfare State? A Cross-National Comparison

6 ratings

Course 1 of 5 in the Specialization Social Policy for Social Services & Health Practitioners

In all nations, social policy is a very large public investment. Course 1 will explore the size, structure, and outcomes of U.S. social policy and compare this policy to those of similar developed countries. The course will also probe the values this policy represents and the values debate regarding about how big our welfare state should be— in other words, how much of our education, housing, health, income support, and social services the government should supply and how much individuals should supply for themselves. This course addresses issues of power, oppression, and white supremacy. The course is part of a sequence in social policy that has an HONORS TRACK. This track will prepare the learner for masters-level work in policy, which involves reading the literature, writing concise summaries and probing critiques. Over the sequence the learner will develop a policy analysis that will create a foundation for professional policy analyst assignments.

From the lesson

Does the Welfare State Enrich Us of Impoverish Us?

In this module, we will explain the size, structure and outcomes of US social policy when compared with comparable developed nations and to differentiate the conservative approaches to social welfare

Politics and Policy3:30

Size of the Welfare State5:34

The Structure of the Welfare State9:20

Floors and Platforms3:50

Fragile Families by Professor Garfinkel6:42

Wealth & the Welfare State by Professor Garfinkel6:50

Economic Conservatives5:10

Social Conservatives4:53

Meet the Instructors

John Robertson
Policy Lecturer
School of Social Work, Columbia University in New York City

So welcome to course number one, module number four.

In this module, we're going to explore in depth comparative welfare state.

Looking at the issues of the differences between the US welfare state and

a number of developed nations in Europe's welfare state,

that's also in Canada and Australia.

We're going to start the module however, with a conversation about politics and

policy.

And close the module with developing the point of view in

conservatives in the discussion about the welfare state.

So let me begin now by talking about policy and politics.

So these are two really central parts of the decision making process.

Politics has to do with who makes the decisions.

And this can be structured by a hereditary monarchy, it can be structured

by some sort of a collective decision making like a Vermont town hall.

It can be structured by an autocrat who takes power.

It can be structured by some sort of democratic

voting system where we elect members of Congress, or Senators,

or members of Parliament, or all kinds of other pieces.

And in this process of giving people the power to make decisions,

there's a complicated political, an agreement process that happens.

So even a hereditary monarch must maintain the support of their people

if their power is going to be real and effective.

Policy, on the other hand, is what are the decisions that you make?

There's a famous story about an English king

who's courtiers were telling him that he was so powerful he could do anything,

he was the most amazing king, he was capable of anything.

And he was not very impressed by all this flattery.

So he asked his court to carry him to the seashore and

he ordered the waves not to come in.

And as their feet got wet and the tide came in, he looked at them and

said, power is different from policy.

And that there are things that even the most powerful political leader cannot do.

So when we're looking at policy, we're thinking about what works.

What are the results of certain kinds of activities?

What are the cost of certain kinds of activities?

What kind of resources does it bring together to build an activity?

So whether we're talking about education or pensions, or

income transfer, there are policies that are effective and work.

And then there are policies that, whatever the political will is,

these policies will not really turn into what was the purpose.

So no amount of political will will make a failed policy work.

And so when we think about power and

politics, anytime we're thinking about, who has the decision?

Who's shaping the decisions?

But we're also thinking about what are the decisions that that person can make?

Explore our Catalog

Join for free and get personalized recommendations, updates and offers.

Coursera provides universal access to the world’s best education, partnering with top universities and organizations to offer courses online.

© 2019 Coursera Inc. All rights reserved.

Download on the App Store

Get it on Google Play