Course description
Course Summary
This course is suitable both for people already working in the field of social policy, and for recent graduates and others with an interest in the area but limited professional experience. The course aims to link theory and practice by providing students with opportunities to apply their academic studies to the analysis of current social policy problems, from the general political level to the level of the workplace. Students working in the public or voluntary sectors have opportunities to apply their experience as managers, practitioners or researchers within the framework of the course.
Course Details
Compulsory modules comprise half of the taught part of the course (60 credits). To make up the balance of credits required, students can select from the available modules to construct a particular educational profile to suit their interests and needs. The modules are designed to cover a wide range of social policy issues, while the mode of assessment allows students to select particular topics in which they develop in-depth knowledge, displayed in essays and advance notice exam answers.
Core Modules
Policy Analysis
The basic question that this module seeks to answer is 'who governs?': how do the organisations representing different interests in society, and different parts of the state, exert influence in the policy process? The module introduces the actors, processes and stages involved in formulating and implementing public policies. Students discuss issues such as the role of ideas and expertise in policy-making and the effect of institutions on policy outcomes.
Research Methods
The MA programme is intended to enable students to make the transition to active researchers, capable of pursuing their own original research in political science, and this module is central to that aim. It engages students with questions of methodology, in order to prepare them for their dissertations. Students are shown how to design research projects and select suitable research methods, as well as learning about the major qualitative and quantitative methods used in political and social research.
European Union Public Policy
This module aims to inform students about institutions and public policy developments in the EU, and introduce them to the great range of scholarly analysis of how European-level public policy has developed. Topics include the effect of market integration on social policy, the development of a 'social dimension' of European integration, the evolution of workers' and citizens' rights and the concept of a democratic deficit and its implications.
Structures of Governance
'Governance' refers to the great range of ways in which collective decisions are taken in society. First among the structures of governance are the institutions of government, and the module looks at the 'multi-level' issues, which arise between local, central and federal governments. It also examines the role of private agencies in delivering public policy, and examines issues in corporate governance, regulation and the role of the Courts.
Dissertation
Areas of special interest to the student will be identified and discussed at interview, and a dissertation supervisor (who also acts as personal tutor) is assigned who is knowledgeable in appropriate areas. The emphasis in the programme on linking theory and practice is reflected in expectations of the dissertation. Students normally collect their own primary data through work in the field or from documentary sources.
Recent examples of dissertations by students taking this course include:
* Successful participation for the frail elderly population
* Irish construction workers
* Living at the margins of the social security system
* Collaboration in practice
Optional Modules
Parties and Voters
The aim of this module is to examine and evaluate the major issues and controversies in the study of elections, voting behaviour and political parties in Britain, and to provide a basis for comparative analysis. It seeks to provide a sophisticated examination of changing electoral behaviour, party ideology and the party system. A variety of methodological techniques employed in psephology and the study of parties are introduced.
Globalisation
This module deals thematically with the main issues in the debate about the meaning, extent, and consequences of 'globalisation'. It uses a multidisciplinary approach, and covers the political, economic, historical and cultural aspects of globalisation. Topics include the impact of globalisation on economic policy, with particular reference to the role of the international institutions, international migration, and the impact of globalisation on culture and the environment.
Intelligence Concepts
Information regarding this module to follow shortly.
Students may also be able to take a module offered on the MSc Management programme - further details available from the Course Director.
Assessment
Two modes of assessment operate on this programme. Some modules are assessed by coursework and an advance notice examination, each counting for 50% of the marks. Other modules are assessed 100% by coursework. The dissertation is assessed by two internal examiners and the external examiner for the degree.
