Paper PFM 11

Political Philosophy, Social and Public Policy

The aim of this subject is to provide the learner with the knowledge and skills required to critically examine the political and social foundations of public policy. The learner is expect- ed to acquire the skills to interrogate the nature, scope and legitimacy of public agents and the nexus between them. In addition, the learner is expected to acquire the skills to analyse the way in which resources are distributed and services provided to meet individual and societal needs. Further, the learner will acquire skills to evaluate how political philosophy and social considerations inform public policy.

On completion, a candidate should be able to

Define political philosophy and explain the contribution of various political philosophers and their political thoughts.
Describe the dimensions of happiness and its relationship with political institutions and public goods.
Explain the meaning of freedom and its relation to Paternalism, the Harm Principle and Moralism.
Describe the concept of equality and its interplay with race, gender, social inequalities and affirmative action.
Explain the meaning of Justice from the Libertarian, Utilitarian, Feminist, Communitarian and Cosmopolitan perspectives.
Describe democracy and other forms of government and their respective benefits and challenges.
Describe various forms of social policies and social welfare models.
Describe the meaning, types and theories of public policy and decision making.

Content

1
Introduction to Political Philosophy
Define political philosophy and explain the contribution of various political philosophers and their political thoughts.
1. 1.1
  Definition of Political Philosophy
2. 1.2
  Origins of Political Philosophy
3. 1.3
  Key Political Philosophers and their Political thoughts
4. 1.4
  From ancient to postmodern political philosophy
2
Happiness
Describe the dimensions of happiness and its relationship with political institutions and public goods.
1. 2.1
  Dimensions of happiness
2. 2.2
  Happiness and pleasure
3. 2.3
  Happiness and Virtue
4. 2.4
  Happiness and Liberty
5. 2.5
  Happiness and Equality
6. 2.6
  Happiness and Governments and Political Institutions
7. 2.7
  Happiness and Public Goods
3
Freedom
Explain the meaning of freedom and its relation to Pater- nalism, the Harm Principle and Moralism.
1. 3.1
  The Meaning of Freedom and who is Free?
2. 3.2
  Subjective and
  1. bjective freedom
3. 3.3
  Restraining freedom
4. 3.4
  Freedom and consent
5. 3.5
  Private freedom and public freedom
6. 3.6
  Negative and positive liberty
7. 3.7
  Paternalism, the Harm Principle, and Moralism
4
Equality
Describe the concept of equality and its interplay with race, gender, social inequalities and affirmative action.
1. 4.1
  Equality as a Baseline
2. 4.2
  Equality of Resources and Luck Egalitarianism
3. 4.3
  Equality of Opportunity and what it requires
4. 4.4
  Inequalities in the Real World
5. 4.5
  Complex Equality
6. 4.6
  Race, Gender, and the Social Construction of Inequalities
7. 4.7
  Affirmative Action
5
Justice
Explain the meaning of Justice from the Libertarian, Utilitarian, Feminist, Communitarian and Cosmopolitan perspectives.
1. 5.1
  Justice: A Brief Introduction
2. 5.2
  Rawls’s Theory of Justice
3. 5.3
  Rawls’s two principles of justice
4. 5.4
  The Libertarian Critique: Individual Liberty Restricts Redistribution
5. 5.5
  Utilitarian Critique: An Alternative Rationale for Redistribution
6. 5.6
  Feminist Critique: The Public–Private Distinction and Power Relations
7. 5.7
  Communitarian Critique: Alternatives to Individualism
8. 5.8
  Cosmopolitan Critique: The Demands of Global Justice
6
Democracy and Other forms of Governments
Describe democracy and other forms of government and their respective benefits and challenges.
1. 6.1
  Authoritarian
2. 6.2
  Monarchy
3. 6.3
  Dictatorship
4. 6.4
  Oligarchy
5. 6.5
  Democracy
6. 6.6
  Forms of democracy (Direct, Representative, Constitutional, Parliamentary and Presidential)
7. 6.7
  Constitutional Democracy, Rights to vote, voting and representation.
8. 6.8
  Benefits and challenges of democracy
7
Social Policy
Describe various forms of social policies and social welfare models.
1. 7.1
  Definition of Social Policy
2. 7.2
  Social Policy and Administration
3. 7.3
  The welfare State and Welfare equality
4. 7.4
  Arguments for and against welfare
5. 7.5
  Welfare Models (Residual, Solidarity, Institutional and Industrial)
6. 7.6
  Paying for Welfare
7. 7.7
  Social Services and protection in Kenya (Health, Education, Housing, Social Security/ Retirement and
  1. ther personal social services)
8
Public Policy
Describe the meaning, types and theories of public policy and decision making.
1. 8.1
  Meaning, characteristics, and importance of Public Policy
2. 8.2
  Similarity and difference between Public Policy and Social Policy
3. 8.3
  Types of public policy (Substantive, regulatory, distributive and redistributive)
4. 8.3
  Laswell’s concept
  1. f policy sciences
5. 8.4
  Policy making and the concept of
  1. ptimal policy making model
6. 8.5
  Policy formulation models
7. 8.6
  Theories of policy making and decision making (rationale comprehensive, incremental theory and mixed scanning theory)
8. 8.7
  Evaluating public policies (Meaning, purpose, criteria, kinds of evaluation, and evaluating institutions)