Undergraduate Course: Political Economy (ECNM10118)
Course Outline
| School | School of Economics |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| 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.
An important part of the course is introducing 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).
Topics covered in this course may include strengths and weaknesses of different electoral rules and their effects on political outcomes and political competition, situational analysis of decision maker problems based on probability theory, political correctness, mechanisms at play in committees, and devil's advocates.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students must have an equivalent of at least 4 semester-long Economics courses at grade B or above for entry to this course. This MUST INCLUDE courses in Intermediate Macroeconomics (with calculus); Intermediate Microeconomics (with calculus); Probability and Statistics; and Introductory Econometrics. If macroeconomics and microeconomics courses are not calculus-based, then, in addition, Calculus (or Mathematics for Economics) is required. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 100 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 6,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
170 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
70 %,
Coursework
30 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework: 30%
Degree Exam: 70% |
| Feedback |
Feedback on coursework will be provided to students according to School of Economics guidelines. For exam-type assessments that is usually a mark complemented with a solution sketch and aggregate written feedback on how the class performed. For essay-type assessments it is usually a mark and short written individual feedback on strengths and weaknesses of the work. |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | | 2:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Have had the opportunity to develop and demonstrate 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.
- Have had the opportunity to develop and demonstrate research and investigative skills such as problem framing and solving and the ability to assemble and evaluate complex evidence and arguments.
- Have had the opportunity to develop and demonstrate communication skills in order to critique, create and communicate understanding.
- Have had the opportunity to develop and demonstrate personal effectiveness through task-management, time-management, dealing with uncertainty and adapting to new situations, personal and intellectual autonomy through independent learning.
- Have had the opportunity to develop and demonstrate practical/technical skills such as, modelling skills (abstraction, logic, succinctness), qualitative and quantitative analysis and general IT literacy.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | political economy,voting |
Contacts
| Course organiser | |
Course secretary | |
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