The Normative Foundation of the Welfare State

Language of Instruction

English

Pre-requirements

Bachelor degree in Comparative Politics/Philosophy or equivalent.

Learning Outcomes

This master's/PhD course provides increased knowledge and understanding not only of the workings and underlying issues of welfare politics, but also about how different welfare regimes can be rooted in different normative traditions. It provides students with the skills to apply theoretical reasoning about distributive justice to concrete policy issues, such as social security and welfare; and thus gives them the opportunity to evaluate highly contested policies from a perspective of fairness.

Contact Information

Department of Philosophy

Email: studierettleiar@fof.uib.no

Course offered (semester)

Spring

Language of Instruction

English

Course Unit Level

Master and PhD

Department

Department of Philosophy

Access to the Course Unit

The course is available to students at the master`s program in comparative politics/philosophy, or students accepted to other equivalent master programs. It is also available to all PhD students; not restricted to PhD students accepted at the University of Bergen.

Aim and Content

The main objective of the course is three-fold:

(a) To provide students with an understanding of the workings and underlying issues of welfare politics, one of the most contested issue areas in advanced capitalist democracies today. The approach will be comparative, with a focus on differences in the structuring and level of welfare provision. Three or four countries are to be studied in-depth. These are countries representing different welfare regimes (e.g. Norway, China, and the United States). Time will be devoted to pressing issues facing the welfare state today that may require radical reforms, such as the ¿social tourism¿ and ¿export¿ of welfare.

(b) To provide students with a theoretical understanding of theories of distributive justice. We start out by discussing two radically different positions. On the one hand the classical contract tradition, with a focus on John Locke, and how it inspired modern versions of libertarianism, such as the one developed by Robert Nozick. On the other hand we study classical Marxism and how this tradition influenced the writings of thinkers such as G. A. Cohen. Between these two positions there are a number of modern theories of distributive justice that we shall examine, such as modern utilitarianism and social welfare functions; John Rawls's social contract theory, and luck egalitarian (or liberal egalitarian) theories of fair distribution, as advanced by Dworkin, among others.

(c) To merge the empirical welfare approach with the theoretical fairness approach. This final and perhaps main aim is to examine how different welfare regimes are rooted in different welfare traditions, and it builds on the two proceeding aims. How can different welfare regimes be given a normative justification; how can the empirical study of welfare states give us a better understanding of theories of distributive justice?

By combining an empirical approach with a theoretical approach the course aims to merge two areas of research that unfortunately are separated and for the most part studied independently of each other. This distinction between empirical and normative analysis is regrettable because they both benefit from each other. Normative research benefits empirical research by giving it structure, direction, and purpose. Empirical research benefits normative research by examining what is practically feasible and by telling us how far away we are from any particular fairness ideal, and what needs to be altered in order to implement it.

Learning Outcomes

This master's/PhD course provides increased knowledge and understanding not only of the workings and underlying issues of welfare politics, but also about how different welfare regimes can be rooted in different normative traditions. It provides students with the skills to apply theoretical reasoning about distributive justice to concrete policy issues, such as social security and welfare; and thus gives them the opportunity to evaluate highly contested policies from a perspective of fairness.

Pre-requirements

Bachelor degree in Comparative Politics/Philosophy or equivalent.

Teaching Methods

Teaching is offered in the form of lectures and seminars.

Individual tuition: up to 1 hours per student.

Compulsory Requirements

An approval of compulsory requirements is valid for three semesters, including the semester in which the approval is given.

Submission of a draft of the semester assignment paper before supervision.

Individual supervision given by the teacher of the course.

Submission of reading list by 15 April in the Spring and by 15 October in the Fall. The reading list should contain course code, semester of examination, and names of the student and teacher, and adher to usual standards for bibliographic references. Number of pages for each book/book excerpt or article should be given (for electronic sources without page numbers one should count 500 words per page). The reading list must be signed by the teacher and approved by the Department.

Assessment methods

Master students: An essay of maximum 4500 words written during the term under supervision. The student chooses the subject of their essay independently but with assistance from their lecturers.

PhD students: An essay of maximum 8000 words written during the term under supervision. The student chooses the subject of their essay independently but with assistance from their lecturers.

An essay that has been submitted and evaluated, can not be submitted to examination again unless the student in advance can demonstrate to the department that the essay provides answers to new research questions, and / or is based upon new empirical material (sources / data), and / or that a radical change is made in the analysis of the interpretation of empirical data (see "Supplementary degree and study regulations for the Faculty of Social Sciences").

Grading Scale

Master students: A-F

PhD Students: Pass/Fail

Place of Teaching

Bergen

Course Unit Evaluation

The teaching will be evaluated from time to time.

Contact Information

Department of Philosophy

Email: studierettleiar@fof.uib.no