Social & Public Policy

You will examine the development of policies and services such as health and social security that were created to eradicate postwar social problems, through a focus on the famous Beveridge Report of 1942, which identified the ‘Five Giants’ of want, disease, squalor, ignorance and idleness. Then using experiences in Glasgow as a lens, you will have the opportunity to study current responses to social problems such as crime, youth gangs, drugs misuse and urban deprivation.

You will study influential ideas and major perspectives on welfare and public policy in order to examine assumptions about the aims of policy and the functions of welfare. This includes examining ideological and political agendas in an international context. You will also look into the politics and power dynamics of policy making, considering how social problems, such as teenage pregnancy and welfare reform, are constructed and why some are high on the political agenda while others are not.

You will also study other subjects in years 1 and 2: see Degrees in Arts, Life Sciences, Science and Social Sciences.

If you progress to Honours (years 3 and 4) you will choose subjects from a diverse range of topics to suit your interests, including:

• Work, welfare and the politics of reform
• Disability and society
• Health and health inequalities
• Housing policy, welfare and markets
• Remaking cities: dilemmas of 21st-century urban policy
• Education for citizenship
• Making public policy in the real world
• Active citizenship (includes a placement in a voluntary or public sector organisation)
• Ideological concepts and values
• Utopias: welfare theory and social policies for a ‘good society’
• Paying for public policy.

You will have the opportunity to apply to study abroad. There are currently two options available: the Erasmus+ Programme and the International Exchange Programme. See Study abroad.