International Political Economy

Political Economy is intended to deepen a student’s understanding of the political context of Economics, and the way in which the discipline of Economics produces ideas and conclusions. This course builds up on students’ prior engagement with International Development, The European Union in the World and complements the study of International Organizations: Global and Local in the third year.

The inspiration for this course arises from two key requirements for a good Politics and International Relations degree: to expose students to classic works, and to offer a bridge between Economics and Politics. Lecturers on this course are encouraged to incorporate views from various schools of thought: (neo)classical, Keynesian, and different varieties of heterodox thinking (for example, Austrian or institutional economics), and link this to the democratic governance literature. Students on this course are exposed to the evolution of economic ideas beyond the standard framework. All topics lend themselves to the inclusion of a wide variety of economic principles, and detailed content will be determined by the research expertise of the lecturer(s).

This course is based on a mix of texts, including papers from both the qualitative and quantitative research traditions, but is heavily based on classic texts and their later interpretations.