Department of Government & International Studies
POLS 1120
Introduction to Political Economy
Prerequisites:
nil
Duration/Frequency:
3 hours/week
Language of Tuition:
English
Individual Study Time Required:
70 hours (5 X 14 weeks)
Credits/Units:
3
Number of Contact Hours:
42 (3 X 14 weeks)
Total Assumed Work Load:
8 hours/week
Course Description/Aims and Objectives:
Political economy, with its roots in the European 17th and 18th centuries, was
the forebear of what developed in the twentieth century into the two separate
disciplines of political science and economic. However, it has become defined
in the last twenty years as that sub-discipline of political science and
economic which examines the relationship of the individual to society, the
economy, and the state with a particular focus on state-market interactions
and intersections. It is the study of relations and choices, of structures and
institutions, of scales from the personal and local to the national, international,
and global. Its originators include John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Adam Smith,
Karl Marx, and Max Weber. Including choice theory and market theory,
system theory, development theory and public policy theory, contemporary
political economy examines the historic and human behavioural linkages
among values/morals, politics, economic reality and economic reasoning. Its
prime question concerns the role of politics in the economy and the effects
and constraints of the economy on the power and functions of politics and of
the state.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) / Competencies:
Knowledge
By the end of this course, students will be able to
1. Describe the history of the disciplinary area of political economy;
2. Distinguish the theories, methods and major approaches to political
economy;
3. Construct understanding of single state political economies and
regional and global political economic frameworks and constraints;
4. Identify current contemporary examples of political economic inquiry
and concern; and
5. Prepare for more advanced courses in the major.
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Skills
By the end of this course, students will be able to
6. Use both traditional university and academic library techniques and
new internet and online techniques and search engines for a research;
7. Distinguish primary from secondary sources and to locate primary
sources;
8. Construct a research question, and discover what research teaches
us about the strengths and weaknesses of human thought processes,
especially those related to complex, emergent systems like
government and the economy;
9. Discuss academic and intellectual issues, locate such discussions in
print and online, put them into presentation form, and publish to the
internet;
10. Acquire knowledge about learning theory and learning styles, and
apply those to themselves and others to better understand how they
learn, think, and research in comparison to others; and
11. Describe and explain what the term “science” means in the phrase
social science and the similarities and differences between social and
natural science.
Attitudes
By the end of this course, students will be able to
12. Critically assess the role of politics in the economy and the interaction
of the state with the market.
Course Content:
Part I
Introduction to Political Economy:
Origins to the Present
I.
The Origins of Political Economy: Ancients to Pre-classical
Individualism, Empiricism, Political Arithmetic, Pragmatism
II.
The Systematic Explanation of Political Economy:
School & rivals
Mercantilism, Physiocracy, Liberalism, Capitalism
III.
Radical Views of Political Economy:
Communism & Utilitarianism
IV.
Neo-Classical & Liberalism: Keynesianism, Rationality
IV.
Interaction between Economics and Society:
School/Public Choice
V.
Public Policy in State and Market
2
The Classical
Socialism, Marxism,
the Austrian
Part II
Current Political Economic Issues (selected from below)
VI.
State budgets, economic policy and taxation: the case of Hong Kong
VII.
The International Trade and Financial System 1945-present
VIII.
Human Rights and Development (Environmentalism)
Teaching & Learning Activities (TLAs):
TLAs
ILOs
addressed
1 to 7, 10 to
12
1. Lectures
The lectures will examine the relationship of the individual to
society, the economy, and the state with a particular focus on
state-market interactions and intersections.
2. Tutorial discussions/ Presentations
2 to 9
Tutorial sessions will be held to discuss academic and
intellectual issues, locate such discussions in print and online,
put them into presentation form, and publish to the internet by
using both traditional university and academic library techniques
and new internet and online techniques and search engines.
Assessment Methods (AMs):
AMs
Paper
Weighting ILOs
Description of Assessment Tasks
addressed
40%
2 to 9
The paper/presentation is an e-assignment.
Students will be asked to sign up to research a
specific topic in political economy, such as how
governments can lessen poverty, or how
economic crises happen. Teams of two people will
research the same topic, develop what they think
is the best 20 websites and online sources for that
topic, and prepare an online slide/PDF
presentation on their topic. Please go to
http://www.slideshare.net for examples. See, for
example, “Work life balance”
http://www.slideshare.net/Text100HongKong/worklife-balance-at-text-100-hong-kong (for a Hong
Kong based example and discussion of corporate
social responsibility) and “Things don’t add up”
http://www.slideshare.net/blacksocks/things3
Class work 20%
(attendance
& in-class
reading
exam)
Final
40%
Examination
1580781 (a very nice example of good
presentation style) and from an Iceland
government department on how to address
Iceland’s economic collapse:
http://www.slideshare.net/gudjon/ministry-of-ideasoverview-of-grassroot-projects-in-iceland-june2009 The teams will name their presentations,
put them up on slideshare (accounts are free) and
view and comment on each other’s presentations.
We will also vote on the best slide presentation
and the winning team with the most votes as the
best presentation will receive an extra half-mark
bonus (for example, if they average a B grade they
will instead get a B+ mark). The marking sheets
with names of teams and their topics will be
handed out in class. I will grade each slide
presentation, but each person in class will also
mark each presentation according to the marking
sheet, which will have sections on what makes for
a good presentation. One third of the overall mark
for the paper/presentation will be taken from the
average mark awarded by class members, two
thirds from the instructor’s assessment.
Attendance is required and will be taken by sign-in
books. The 1 hour in-class reading exam will be
short answer on the readings and focused on
definitions for key terms, persons, and events.
1 to 4, 11,
12
1 to 4, 11,
12
The final exam will be short answer and an essay
exam with questions selected from a list of
questions based on the lectures, readings, and
tutorials.
Some possible topics for the slideshare presentations:
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Causes and cures for the business cycle
Can taxes be fair?
Can poverty be eliminated?
Environment vs Growth, true or false tradeoff
Great thinkers in Political Economy: (one of these listed)
Adam Smith, William Petty, Karl Marx, Jeremy Bentham, Keynes,
any of the Nobel prize winners in Economics, others may be
negotiated
VI. Does Democracy promote or retard development?
VII. Energy crisis: what can we do?
VIII. Cars, cost and benefit to society
IX. Government: how big is too big, or how small is too small?
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X. Why do bureaucracies grow and how can they be controlled?
XI. What is social capital?
XII. Intellectual capital and growth
XIII. How can entrepreneurs be encouraged?
XIV. Regulation, reform, and cost
XV. Free markets, everywhere or nowhere?
XVI. Finance: why is there a banking crisis somewhere all the time?
Reading Assignments:
The Required Reading in each topic should be read BEFORE the lecture(s)
on that topic. Some readings will be part of tutorial and class discussions. All
required reading assigned is subject to appear on the final or on the in-class
exam.
Part I
Introduction to Political Economy:
Origins to the Present
Required reading: http://www.politicalcompass.org/
Go to this website first, read the introduction and take the test. Bring your
score to class.
http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/
http://www.efm.bris.ac.uk/het/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Introductory and Background Reading
Primer for those students who have never taken economics and need a quick
explanation, and for those students who have taken old fashioned, standard
theory “rational actor” economics. These are short articles for the most part,
but with interesting links.
What is economics? The basics:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16787-what-is-economics-thebasics.html
What’s wrong with classical economics:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227112.000-can-science-reinventthe-economy-4-predicting-the-big-one.html
The human factor in economics:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227111.800-can-science-reinventthe-economy-2-the-human-factor.html
What is economics? Modern approaches:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16788-what-is-economics-modernapproaches.html
More on neuroeconomics (at my graduate university alma mater Claremont
Graduate University)
http://www.neuroeconomicstudies.org/
Evolutionary and institutional economics: http://eaepe.org/node/5
AND JEI
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journals online at http://diglib.lib.utk.edu/utj/jei-home.php
And see:
http://www.orgs.bucknell.edu/afee/afit/AFIT%20Association%20for%20Institut
ional%20Thought.htm AND
download “10 things every principles student should learn but probably does
not” at
http://www.orgs.bucknell.edu/afee/afit/teaching_institutionalism_principles.htm
Using math the right way in economics:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227111.700-can-science-reinventthe-economy-1-bubble-math.html
And a bit difficult but with very useful and interesting links, the Financial Crisis
Observatory in Switzerland: http://www.er.ethz.ch/fco/index
Hope for mastering complexity, and modeling applied to economics and policy:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227112.100-can-science-reinventthe-economy-5-an-economy-in-a-computer.html
Back to physics and reapplying to economics:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227112.200-can-science-reinventthe-economy-6-out-of-kilter.html
(Read about Newton and the Scientific Revolution in Section I below. This is
where political economy starts.)
III.
The Origins of Political Economy: Ancients to Pre-classical
Individualism, Empiricism, Political Arithmetic, Pragmatism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_economy
Thomas Hobbes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hobbes
Social contract: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_contract_theories
State of nature: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_nature
Natural law: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_law
Natural rights: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_rights
John Locke: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Locke
Empiricism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism
Scientific Revolution: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_Revolution
Isaac Newton: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton
Scientific theory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_theory
Causation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cause
On William Petty: http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/ and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Petty
IV.
The Systematic Explanation of Political Economy: The Classical
School & rivals
Mercantilism, Physiocracy, Liberalism, Capitalism
Mercantilism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercantilism
Physiocrats: http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/ and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physiocrats
Francois Quesnay: http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/ and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francois_Quesnay
Liberalism: http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/, and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism
Adam Smith: http://econ161.berkeley.edu/Economists/smith.html
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(this
website by Prof. Brad DeLong includes very nice summary excerpts;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith
Free trade: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_trade
Wealth of Nations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wealth_of_Nations
David Hume: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hume
American Revolution: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution
Federalist Number 10: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federalist_No._10
US Constitution: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Constitution
Rule of law: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_law
French revolution: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution
Human rights: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights
Property rights: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Property_rights
Capitalism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism
David Ricardo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ricardo
Comparative advantage: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantage
IX.
Radical Views of Political Economy:
Communism & Utilitarianism
Socialism, Marxism,
See Alternative Schools, “heterodox traditions” at
http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/
Labour theory of value: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Theory_of_Value
Socialism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism
Communism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism
Marxism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism
Leninism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leninism
Maoism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maoism
Utilitarianism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarianism
IV.
Neo-Classical & Liberalism: Keynesianism, Rationality
Neo-classical economics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoclassical_economics
Marginal utility: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marginal_utility
Keynesianism: J.M. Keynes link at http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/ &
http://econ161.berkeley.edu/Economists/keynes.html &
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keynesian_economics
Rational choice: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rational_choice
Rational expectations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rational_expectations
X.
Interaction between Economics and Society:
School/Public Choice
the Austrian
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_economics
Friedman von Hayek: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_von_Hayek
Public choice: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_choice
XI.
Public Policy in State and Market
Market failure: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_failure
Government failure: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_failure
Game Theory: http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/ (Under thematic schools)
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Behavioral economics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_economics
Evolutionary economics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_economics
& http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-mind-of-the-market and, if you
can manage the complex language,
http://www.complexsystems.org/essays/evolecon.html
Thorstein Veblen, “Why is Economics not an Evolutionary Science?”
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccernew2?id=VebEvol.xml&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng
/parsed&tag=public&part=1&division=div2 and, if you’re interested in further
reading of Veblen, all his works free online at:
http://www.efm.bris.ac.uk/het/veblen/index.htm
Part II
XII.
Current Political Economic Issues
(selected from below)
State budgets, economic policy and taxation: the case of Hong
Kong
Newspapers as assigned in class;
budget address on HKgov website (when posted)
XIII.
The International Trade and Financial System 1945-present
History of international trade in modern times:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_international_trade
UN: http://en.wikipeia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_Nations
International Monetary fund: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMF
World Bank: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Bank_Group
Globalization: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globalization
Another Great Depression? http://www.voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/3421
XIV.
Human Rights and Development (Environmentalism)
http://www.undp.org/ (main UN site, just look around)
UN Development project: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNDP
Human development index:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index
Environmentalism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_movement
***WIKIPEDIA SHOULD BE USED AS THE STARTING POINT FOR
RESEARCH, NOT FOR DIRECT CITATION OF THE CONTENTS WHICH
CONSTANTLY CHANGE. USE THE LINKS TO THE RELEVANT
ARTICLES/BOOKS/WEBSITES AND LOOK UP THE REFERENCES TO
AUTHORS AND SUBJECTS WHICH TAKE YOU TO PRIMARY SOURCES.
FOOTNOTES IN YOUR BOOK REVIEW WHICH CITE THE WIKIPEDIA AS
SOURCE WILL RESULT IN MARKS TAKEN OFF YOUR GRADE.
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References:
Adams, Charles (1993) For Good and Evil: The Impact of Taxes on the Course
of Civilization London: Madison Books.
Ansari, Javed (1986) The Political Economy of International Economic
Organization
Boulder: Lynne Reinner.
Armstrong, Philip, Andrew Glyn and John Harrison (1991) Capitalism Since 1945
Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Becker, David G., Jeff Frieden, Sayre P. Schatz, and Richard L. Sklar (1987)
Postimperialism: International Capitalism and Development in the Late
Twentieth Century
Boulder: Lynne Reinner.
Beinghocker, Eric D. (2006) The Origin of Wealth: Evolution, Complexity, and
the Radical Remaking of Economics Cambridge: Harvard Business School
Press.
Braudel, Fernand (1992) Civilization and Capitalism, 15th–18th Century
Vols
I-III Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
Bürgenmeier, Beat (1994) Economy, Environment, and Technology
Armonk,
N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe.
Caporaso, James A. and David P. Levine (1992) Theories of Political Economy
London: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Carchedi, Guglielmo (1991) Frontiers of Political Economy
London: Verso.
Cerny, Philip G., ed. (1993) Finance and World Politics
Cheltenham: Edward
Elgar.
Cipolla, Carlo, ed. (1976) The Fontana Economic History of Europe: The
Twentieth Century, (2 vols.) London: Fontana.
Cooper, Charles, ed. (1994) Technology and Innovation in the International
Economy
Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Dore, Ronald (1990) British Factory/Japanese Factory
Berkeley: Univ. of Calif.
Press.
Elster, John (1985) Making Sense of Marx
Cambridge: Cambridge Univ.
Press.
Fischer, David H. (1996) The Great Wave: Price Revolutions and the Rhythm
of History London: Oxford U Press.
Gillingham, John (1990) Coal, Steel and the Rebirth of Europe 1918-1955
Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Hall, Peter (1986) Governing the Economy
New York: St. Martin’s.
Hirschman, Albert O. (1988) The Strategy of Economic Development
Boulder:
Westview.
Issak, R. A. (1990) International Political Economy: Managing World Economic
Change NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Keohane, Robert O. (1984) After Hegemony: Cooperation and Discord in the
World Political Economy Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press.
Landes, David (1998) The Wealth and Poverty of Nations New York: W. W.
Norton.
McCraw, Thomas K., ed. (1997) Creating Modern Capitalism Cambridge:
Harvard University Press.
Moore, Barrington (1966) The Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy
Boston: Harvard University Press.
Morgan, Mary (1990) The History of Econometric Ideas
Cambridge:
Cambridge Univ. Press.
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Muller, Jerry Z. (2002) The Mind and the Market: Capitalism in Modern
European Thought New York: Knopf.
Olson, Mancur (1965) The Logic of Collective Action
Cambridge: Harvard
Univ. Press.
__________ (1982) The Rise and Decline of Nations New Haven, Yale Univ.
Press.
Robertson, Roland (1992) Globalization
London: Sage.
Wade, Robert (1990) Governing the Market
Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press.
R. S. Walters (1991) The Politics of Global Economic Relations 4th ed.
Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
Wallerstein, Immanuel (1991) Geopolitics and Geoculture: Essays on the
Changing World System Paris: Maison des Sciences de l’Homme.
Warsh, David (2006) Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations New York: W.W.
Norton.
Williamson, Oliver (1985) The Economic Institutions of Capitalism
London:
Blackwell.
Syllabus prepared by: Prof. Michael E. DEGOLYER / September 2010
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