Undergraduate Course: Political Economy (ECNM10060)
Course Outline
| School | School of Economics |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Economic policy cannot be understood by studying markets alone and, to be successful, it must take politics into account. The political game is very multifaceted. Voters choose politicians based on information from the media, politicians and special interest groups. Politicians choose policies based on advice from vested interests, and carefully consider future elections and their post-political careers. Politicians organise into political parties and committees that involve bargaining and internal voting. |
| Course description |
Economics typically considers markets as the main allocation mechanism. But voting and other democratic institutions are also mechanisms that influence economic outcomes.
The first part of the course will introduce concepts from political and moral philosophy into economic thinking (the normative approach) and use economic thinking to understand the properties of different electoral rules and their effects on political outcomes and political competition (the positive approach).
The second part of the course deals with the information used by voters to decide. Topics include political correctness, committees, and devil's advocates.
The course will use the tools of economic analysis and take a formal approach in order to investigate all these problems. The second part of the course uses probability theory extensively, as a way to put the economic modeller in the shoes of the decision makers in many possible situations.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
Students MUST have passed:
Economics 2 (ECNM08006)
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Economics Honours Entry |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should usually have at least 3 Economics courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this) for entry to this course. This MUST INCLUDE courses in Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, and Introductory Econometrics. We will only consider University/College level courses. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- A knowledge and understanding of economic principles and models used in the analysis of political processes, and associated mathematical and statistical techniques, the use of probability theory for understanding decision-making with imperfect information, along with applications and policy implications of those models.
- Research and investigative skills such as problem framing and solving and the ability to assemble and evaluate complex evidence and arguments.
- Communication skills in order to critique, create and communicate understanding.
- Personal effectiveness through task-management, time-management, dealing with uncertainty and adapting to new situations, personal and intellectual autonomy through independent learning.
- Practical/technical skills such as, modelling skills (abstraction, logic, succinctness), qualitative and quantitative analysis and general IT literacy.
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Reading List
None of the following is required, except that Besley (2007) is a primary resource for the second visiting student essay.
Besley, T, Principled Agents? The Political Economy of Good Government, Princeton University Press, 2007.
Mueller, Denis C. Public Choice III, Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Persson, T and G Tabellini. Political Economics: Explaining economic policy, MIT Press, 2000.
Additional readings will be specified for selected topics. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
See Learning Outcomes |
| Keywords | PE |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Andrew Clausen
Tel: (0131 6)51 5131
Email: Andrew.Clausen@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Dawn Everett
Tel: (0131 6)51 5958
Email: Dawn.Everett@ed.ac.uk |
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