This module introduces students to public policy with a focus on social policy programmes. You will learn about the policy cycle, key theories at each stage of policy making, implementation and evaluation and how they are applied in a series of case studies of Irish social policy. This module addresses the following questions, which are fundamental to the analysis of social policies:
- why do governments introduce social policies to address some social problems and not others?
- What are the factors which influence decisions regarding the design of these social policies?
- Why do the outcomes achieved by social polices often differ from their objectives? 
- And how can we evaluate social policies and reform them to ensure that are more effective in future? 
In this module the extensive international literature on each of these issues is examined and applied to the analysis of a number of case studies of contemporary Irish social policies.
The module will be delivered through lectures and two tutorials. In group work students have to review one academic book related to the course topic to equip them with in-depth knowledge of one theory. At the end of the term students evaluate a social policy programme in an 24hrs assignment.