Welfare States in Transition

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This course examines competing political and economic theories for social welfare policy design and reform in recent decades. Concentrating on the main areas of social policy - health, labor regulation and unemployment insurance, and old-age pensions - it examines divergent trends in policy scope, coverage, and spending both between countries and programs within the same country. The contrasting outcomes between the advanced industrial economies of Western Europe and the United States, as well as between the developing economies of Latin America and East Asia, illustrate the importance of domestic political and economic institutions in shaping diverse responses to the forces of globalization.