Msc in Comparative Public Policy

MSc in Comparative Public Policy

School of Social and Political Studies

EdinburghUniversity

Reading List 2010

(at your discretion!)

Good introductions to comparative social policy:

- Kennett, P. (ed.) (2004): A Handbook of Comparative Social Policy, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. See particularly chapter by Jochen Clasen: “Defining comparative social policy”, pp. 91-102.

- Hill, M. (2006): Social Policy in the Modern World. A Comparative Text, Oxford: Blackwell.

Examples of political economic approaches to the field (Esping-Andersen is a good introduction to comparative welfare state analysis, Iversen and Hall/Soskice are rather advanced reading for those having some pre-knowledge in political economy and/or social policy):

- Esping-Andersen, G. (1999): Social Foundations of Postindustrial Economies, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999:

- Iversen, T. (2005): Capitalism, Democracy and Welfare, Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press.

- Hall, P. A. & Soskice, D. (eds.) (2001): Varieties of Capitalism: the Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage.Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press.

An excellent large-scale public policy study:

- Castles, F. G. (1998): Comparative Public Policy, Edward Elgar.

A good example of a comparative case study:

- Clasen, J. (2005), Reforming European Welfare States: Germany and the United Kingdom Compared, Oxford: Oxford University Press,

Good overviews over gender-sensitive comparative policy analysis:

- Sainsbury, D. (ed.) (1999: Gender and Welfare State Regimes, Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press.

- Gornick, J. C. and Meyers, M. (eds.) (2003): Families that work: policies for reconciling parenthood and employment, New York: Russell Sage foundation.

Two books using an historical perspective worthwhile reading:

- Tilly, C. (1984): Big Structures, Large Processes, Huge Comparisons, New York.

- Pierson, P. (2004): Politics in Time. History, Institutions, and Social Analysis, Princeton and Oxford.

Examples of studies on policy-transfer:

- Dolowitz, D.P. with others (2000). Policy Transfer and British Social Policy: Learning from the USA? Buckingham: Open University Press.

- Rose, R. (2001) Ten Steps in Learning Lessons from Abroad [PDF document] Swindon: ESRC.

And finally, some good introductions to methodological and theoretical aspects of comparative public policy:

- Kennett, Patricia (2001): Comparative Social Policy. Theory and Research, Buchingham: Open University Press.

- Landman, Todd (2000): Issues and Methods in Comparative Politics: an Introduction, London/New York: Routledge.

- Ragin, Charles C. (1987/1989): The Comparative Method. Moving beyond Qualitative and Quantitative Strategies, Berkeley: University of California Press.

- Dogan, M. and Pelassy, D. (1990): How to Compare Nations. Strategies in Comparative Politics, Chatham, New Jersey: Chatham House Publishers.

For any one new to the field of policy studies in general, I suggest the following book as an introduction. It will be used in some of the more generic policy studies courses and is suitable for an international readership:

- Hudson, J. and Lowe, S. (eds.) (2004): Understanding the Policy Process, Policy Press.