Conceptual Essay on Social Policy Area in Relation to Key Concepts

Choosing a Social Policy Area

Write a conceptual essay on one of the following topics:
Choose a current area of social policy and analyse this area in relation to one of the following topics:
a. The impacts of globalisation
b. Luke’s three faces of power
c. Pluralism and its critiques
d. Decision making approaches
e. Policy networks
f. The role and function of the bureaucracy including street level bureaucrats.

♦ Your essay should identify your policy area and then reflect on the role the topic you have chosen (from a-f) has played in policy formulation and implementation
♦ You should focus on current events and debates within your policy area
♦ Ensure your area is an example of social policy.

◊ Examples of social policy areas include: disability, aging, employment policy, whanau ora, child protection, welfare reform, mental health, primary health, human rights, justice, sentencing, kiwi saver, free trade,Waitangi settlements, working for families, social housing policy, local council rates, transportation policies, pharmac drug funding policies etc.
♦ Write the name of your policy area and the topic you will be covering on the cover sheet.Assignment Two requires students to write a conceptual essay. Essentially this means you need to explore the key concepts that are the focus of the assignment.

In this essay we ask you to pick from one of the following topics:
a. The impacts of globalisation
b. Luke’s three faces of power
c. Pluralism and its critiques
d. Decision making approaches
e. Policy networks
f. The role and function of the bureaucracy including street level bureaucrats.

Whichever of these topics (a-f) you choose is then the concept that you need to discuss across your essay. You should then discuss this concept in relation to whatever policy area you pick i.e. your policy area becomes an example to support your discussion of the key concept.The policy area you choose must be an area of social policy, but it can be as narrow or as broad as you like, provided it allows for sufficient depth to discuss your concept. Additionally you should be clear in your introduction about which concept you are writing about, what your policy focus is and provide an academic justification (rather than a personal reflection) for how you will use this to discuss your concept.

write an essay in which you explore one of the concepts:
a) The impacts of globalisation
b) Luke’s three faces of power
c) Pluralism and its critiques
d) Decision making approaches
e) Policy networks
f) The role and function of the bureaucracy including street level bureaucrats To support this discussion you should use NZ examples from a social policy area of your choosing.

Remember everyone’s essay should be different. How you write, engage with the material, the examples you choose, and how you explore your concept will be unique to you. There is no one right way or one size fits all approach to an essay. It is important to be clear in your introduction what your concept is, how your essay explores this and what social policy area you will draw on for your examples. This sets the scene for your essay and provides parameters around what you will and will not do. It indicates to us, as markers, what you hope to cover and justifies your approach.

This is an academic essay so the usual conventions of an academic assignment apply. Your essay should have an introduction, body and conclusion. You should use APA referencing and include a reference list at the end of your assignment. You may use subheadings as a guide for the reader, but ensure that your essay flows both with and without the subheadings. You must use academic sources to back up your discussion of the concept and you may use other sources to support your discussion of the policy area. It is expected that you will have over 7 references for this assignment. Use at least 1.5 line spacing and ensure there is a margin on one side of your assignment for markers comments. If possible we would recommend having someone proof read your essay prior to submission to check your grammar, syntax and the logical flow of the essay. Switch your spell check on (to New Zealand English) and grammar function – this will help with punctuation, sentence completion etc. OWLL provides some great hints and advice so make use of this of this resource.