Welfare mix 2100-SPP-L-D4WMIX

This course examines the evolution of social policy provision from state-dominated welfare states to multifaceted, multi-actor systems. It covers theoretical frameworks such as welfare mix, co-production, and polycentric governance, and applies these perspectives across various social policy domains (e.g., healthcare, long-term care, employment services, and education). Students will learn how multiple stakeholders—public agencies, private firms, nonprofit organizations, communities, and families—interact to shape service delivery, financing, and regulation in increasingly complex and adaptive welfare ecosystems.

Course Title: Welfare Mix: From Welfare State to Welfare Complexity

Block I: Foundations and Historical Baselines
These sessions establish the baseline of the state-centric model and introduce the idea of multiple actors gradually entering the scene.

Seminar 1: Understanding the Welfare State
Explanation: Introduces the classic welfare state as a dominant provider of social services post-WWII. Sets a historical baseline and explains why this model was once considered the pinnacle of social protection.

Seminar 2: Emergence of the Welfare Mix and Welfare Pluralism
Explanation: Shows how critiques of the state’s limitations opened space for private firms, charities, and community actors. Introduces “welfare mix” or “welfare pluralism” as concepts capturing the involvement of multiple sectors.

Block II: Sector Failures and Theoretical Underpinnings
These sessions move from describing multiple actors to theorizing why they appear and how they interact, using failure theories and early governance frameworks.

Seminar 3: Market Failure, State Failure, and Voluntary Failure
Explanation: Explores how no single sector is perfect. Market failures justify state involvement; state failures create opportunities for voluntary and private actors; voluntary failures highlight capacity constraints. Sets the stage for a multi-actor rationale.

Seminar 4: The Third Sector and Its Evolving Role
Explanation: Examines the nonprofit/voluntary sector’s complex position. Initially marginal, it gained prominence via contracting and commissioning. Emphasizes that the third sector is part of a broader mix, not the sole alternative to the state.

Seminar 5: “Third Party Government” and Beyond
Explanation: Introduces conceptual frameworks (e.g., Salamon’s third party government) that explain how the state governs through other actors. Shows how theoretical models moved from static sectoral distinctions to understanding complex interdependencies.

Block III: Governance, Provision, and Financing in a Polycentric World
Shifts from mapping who provides what to examining how governance, provision, and financing arrangements reflect complex interactions among multiple stakeholders.

Seminar 6: Welfare Mix as Governance – Networks, Partnerships, and Contracting
Explanation: Emphasizes that the welfare mix is not just a distribution of roles but also a governance challenge. Explores commissioning, contracting out, and performance management as tools that restructure relationships among sectors.

Seminar 7: Provision Perspective – Co-production, Co-creation, and Service Design
Explanation: Moves from just identifying multiple providers to understanding how services are produced collaboratively. Co-production and co-creation highlight user involvement, frontline innovation, and the blending of professional and citizen knowledge.

Seminar 8: Financing Perspective – Tax Expenditures, Social Investment, and Hybrid Funding
Explanation: Shows how complex funding streams (public grants, philanthropic donations, private insurance, social impact bonds) shape the welfare mix. Financing strategies influence which actors flourish and how risks and responsibilities are shared.

Block IV: Policy Domains Under Complexity
Applies the frameworks to real-world sectors, illustrating that complexity manifests differently depending on the policy arena, yet follows similar principles of multi-actor involvement, co-governance, and adaptive arrangements.

Seminar 9: Employment Services and Activation Policies
Explanation: Examines how state agencies, private contractors, and nonprofits deliver employment programs. Shows how market-like incentives and co-production with local communities adapt to changing labor market conditions.

Seminar 10: Social Care and Long-Term Care
Explanation: Focuses on the interplay of family care, informal networks, public provision, for-profit institutions, and nonprofits. Highlights personalization and user choice as complexity-driven solutions in an aging society.

Seminar 11: Health Care and Education Systems
Explanation: Illustrates how hospitals, clinics, schools, private providers, and community groups form intricate service networks. Discusses quality assurance, accountability, and user feedback as part of a complex adaptive system.

Block V: Toward Complexity, Polycentricity, and Antifragility
Shows how complexity theories and advanced governance concepts provide a meta-lens for understanding welfare’s dynamic and uncertain future.

Seminar 12: Complexity Theory in Public Policy
Explanation: Introduces complexity as a unifying lens. Policy problems, especially in human services, do not have linear solutions. Feedback loops, nonlinearity, and emergent behaviors shape outcomes in unpredictable ways.

Seminar 13: Polycentric Governance and Multi-Level Systems
Explanation: Explores the idea of multiple overlapping centers of authority. With local, national, and even transnational actors involved, polycentric governance provides flexibility and responsiveness in complex welfare ecosystems.

Seminar 14: Fragility, Antifragility, and Adaptive Capacity
Explanation: Moves beyond resilience to antifragility: systems that thrive under stress. Explores how diverse stakeholders, modular service delivery, and iterative policy design help welfare systems adapt and improve amid uncertainties.

Block VI: Synthesis and Looking Forward
Seminar 15: From the Welfare State to Welfare Complexity – Reflections and Futures
Explanation: Concludes the course by reflecting on the journey from state-centric models to an era of complexity. Recaps key theories, frameworks, and practical approaches. Discusses future trends, including digital platforms, global shocks, and new forms of collaborative governance.

Prerequisites (description)

Students should enter this course with: Foundational Understanding of Social and Public Policy: A basic grasp of welfare states, social benefits, and key distinctions between public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Familiarity with Policy Processes: An awareness of how policies are designed, implemented, and evaluated, along with a general understanding of the institutions that shape social policy. Academic Literacy and Analytical Skills: The ability to critically read and interpret academic texts, engage with theoretical arguments, and navigate policy-relevant literature. Contextual Awareness of Contemporary Social Challenges: A general understanding of issues such as demographic changes (e.g., aging populations), labor market shifts, and social inequalities.

Course coordinators

Ryszard Szarfenberg

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding:

Identify the key characteristics and historical evolution of the welfare state, welfare mix, and related governance models.
Explain core theoretical frameworks (market failure, state failure, voluntary failure) and their relevance to multi-actor welfare systems.
Understand the concepts of co-production, co-creation, and polycentric governance, recognizing how these approaches shape contemporary welfare provision.
Grasp the principles of complexity theory and their implications for public management and welfare service delivery.
Skills:

Compare and contrast different institutional arrangements in welfare provision, assessing their advantages and limitations in various policy fields.
Apply theoretical insights to analyze complex, real-world welfare scenarios, identifying the roles, interests, and capacities of multiple stakeholders.
Critically evaluate how adaptive, complex governance frameworks can improve or hinder the effectiveness, equity, and resilience of social policies.
Integrate complexity theory concepts to better understand non-linear dynamics and emergent outcomes in welfare governance.
Other Competencies:

Collaborate effectively with peers to discuss, negotiate, and synthesize diverse perspectives on welfare systems.
Reflect on personal assumptions and biases regarding public, private, and nonprofit sector roles in social policy implementation.
Demonstrate openness to complexity and uncertainty, showing readiness to adapt understanding as evidence and circumstances evolve.
Engage with complexity-informed decision-making approaches that value iterative learning, stakeholder engagement, and adaptive policy design.

Assessment criteria

Evaluation will focus on the student’s ability to demonstrate understanding, analysis, and application of course concepts without relying on text-generation tools. Therefore, assessments will emphasize interactive, interpretive, and scenario-based methods:

In-class Knowledge Checks (20%):
Periodic short quizzes (e.g., multiple-choice, matching concepts to definitions, scenario-based questions) administered on-site without electronic devices. These confirm foundational understanding and retention of key concepts from readings and discussions.

Scenario-Based Group Presentation (30%):
Students, working in small teams, will analyze a complex welfare scenario (such as a care system reform or a new employment activation program) and present their findings orally. They will identify key actors, potential failures, and propose a multi-actor strategy grounded in complexity theory and co-production principles. This approach tests their ability to apply theoretical frameworks and work collaboratively.

Oral Examination (50%):
An individual oral exam at the end of the semester, where students respond to questions that probe their understanding of theoretical frameworks, their capacity to evaluate policy arrangements, and their skill in reasoning through complex governance challenges. By avoiding written essays, the oral format reduces the risk of AI-generated text and encourages authentic, spontaneous reasoning.

These assessment methods ensure that students actively engage with course content, demonstrate genuine comprehension, and build competencies in real-time analysis and communication—skills critical for navigating the evolving and complex landscape of contemporary welfare systems.

Practical placement

Bibliography

Powell, M. (ed.) (2019) Understanding the Mixed Economy of Welfare, 2nd edition, Policy Press.
Salamon, L. M. (ed.) (2002) The Tools of Government: A Guide to the New Governance, Oxford University Press.
Ostrom, E. (2010) ‘Beyond Markets and States: Polycentric Governance of Complex Economic Systems’, American Economic Review, 100(3): 641–672.
Brandsen, T., Pestoff, V. & Verschuere, B. (eds.) (2012) New Public Governance, the Third Sector and Co-Production, Routledge.
Bovaird, T. & Loeffler, E. (2012) ‘From Engagement to Co-production: How Users and Communities Contribute to Public Services’, Voluntas, 23(4): 1119–1138.
Teisman, G. R., Van Buuren, A. & Gerrits, L. (eds.) (2009) Managing Complex Governance Systems: Dynamics, Self-Organization and Coevolution in Public Investments, Routledge.
Rhodes, M. L., Murray, J. & Donnelly, J. (eds.) (2010) Public Management and Complexity Theory: Richer Decision-Making in Public Services, Routledge.
Additional readings and policy reports will be recommended throughout the semester to enrich understanding and support the analysis of specific policy domains.

Additional information

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

Description of 2100-SPP-L-D4WMIX in USOSweb