LEARNING OUTCOMES

The Italian welfare state, in comparison with other European models of welfare state. Policies of social assistance: the concept of assistance, its history, functioning and further development.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to provide students with basic concepts on public policy analysis and models for analyzing social policies in the european, italian and local contexts from a historical-comparative perspective; specific knowledge about historical evolution and the current configuration of Italian social policies, with particular regard to pension policies, labor policies, health policies and social-welfare policies; basic skills in social policies evaluation.

TEACHING METHODS

Frontal lessons are alternated with discussions with students and possible proposals of activities in groups based on the methedology of the TBL.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The following content will be treated

1. Social needs, risks, social policies and welfare states; assistance, insurance and social security; historical welfare state evolution; the welfare state as a socio-political system; welfare models and welfare regimes.

2. Pension policy; evolution of old age protection policies; demographic changes and crisis of the systems of protection of the old age; retirement reforms of the 1990s and 2000s and transition to multi-pillar systems.

3. Labor policy; birth and evolution of the original model of labor policies; socio-economic and industrial transformations and new labor policy models in Italy; regulation and governance of labor policies between european efforts, national framework and local impulses.

4. Health policy; origin of health systems in the post-war period and SSN in Italy; cost increases, crisis in health systems and containment strategies and rationalization of spending; healthcare reforms of the 1990s and 2000s.

5. Social welfare: social assistance and its role in the welfare state; actors of social welfare, subsidiarity and welfare mix; evolution of social assistance in Italy; socio-economic transformations, new needs and new social-welfare policies; reforms of the 1990s and 2000s.

6. Evaluation of social policies: fundamental concepts, approaches, method; design of evalutative research; theory driven evaluation  and participatory evaluation

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

To be confirmed at the course starting:

Ferrera M. (a cura di), 2019, Le politiche sociali. Terza edizione, Il Mulino, Bologna

Torrigiani C., 2010, Valutare per apprendere. Capitale sociale e teoria del programma. FrancoAngeli, Milano

Materials available on Aulaweb.