Welfare policies in the Global South: Representation, civil society and interest groups

This course takes as a starting point the Western based welfare regime literature, but mostly the course will draw on newer theoretical and empirical contributions from the Global South. Together, we shall reflect on the traditional explanatory theories to welfare policy development and discuss how these may differ from newer theories on the causes of welfare regimes in developing countries; and we shall explore, theoretically and empirically, the social and economic consequences of different types of welfare policies – particularly as regards poverty and inequality. Early in the course, we go into some detail with experiences in Latin America, Asia and Africa and, subsequently, we will return to selected empirical cases in order to examine the relevance of different theories across and within regions. The empirical focus should also provide opportunities to discuss interesting puzzles that may inspire to developing a relevant synopsis, which is part of the exam requirement. In our exploration of theories and empirical studies we shall particularly focus on the importance of democratic representation and the political mobilisation of interest groups in civil society.

The purpose of this course is thus to give students insights into the newer literature on social policies and welfare regimes in the Global South. After the course the students should be able to describe welfare regime types in different regions, give reasons for the possible impacts of welfare policies on poverty and inequality, and provide justified suggestions of explanations and causes to the development of different welfare regimes types. The students will furthermore have the opportunity to critically evaluate the usefulness of different theories in relations to actual empirical analyses of Latin America, Asia and Africa.

Causes to welfare policy development (I): politics & power resource approach

Welfare policy development in Latin America, Asia and Africa

Causes to welfare policy development (II): democracy and political competition

Causes to welfare policy development (III): ethnicity and social divisions

Causes to welfare policy development (IV): globalization

Causes to welfare policy development (V): ideas and international organizations

Consequences of social policy/welfare regimes for poverty and inequality

-concepts of social policy and welfare regimes

-central theories explaining welfare policy development in the Global South

-different consequences of social policies

-differences in welfare policy development across the regions of Latin America, Asia and Africa

They should have the skills to:

-compare central theories, methods and approaches that analyse the causes and consequences of welfare policies and discuss their similarities/differences as well as strengths and weaknesses;

-apply theory and methodological approaches to analyse relevant research questions on new empirical content;

-critically assess the value of theories and methodological approaches in answering research questions related to understanding the development of welfare policies in the Global South;

They should have the competences to:

-independently formulate a research question and write a synopsis that is relevant for the course’s focus on welfare policies in the Global South;

-give an oral presentation and discussion of topics relevant to the course.

A final list will be available prior to the course, but the following book will be used as a main text book:

Haggard, Stephan & Robert R. Kaufman. Development, Democracy and Welfare States: Latin America, East Asia, and Eastern Europe, Princeton & Oxford: Princeton University Press, latest edition

Lectures with active participation of students (including group work and class discussions).

15 sessions of 2 x 45 minutes (2 or 3 of these sessions will be organized as peer-feedback sessions to discuss draft synopses)

Preparation for lectures92

Add-on    6

Preparation for add-on   12

Synopsis50

Preparation for exam80

Total270

The student is automatically registered for the first examination attempt when the student is registered for a course or course element with which one or more examinations are associated. Withdrawal of registration is not possible, and students who fail to participate in an examination have used one examination attempt, unless the University has made an exemption due to special circumstances. 

If a student does not meet the established university prerequisites for taking the exam, he or she has used one examination attempt, unless the University has made an exemption due to special circumstances.