POEC 401(F) Contemporary Problems in Political Economy
This course examines contemporary problems in political economy at and across diverse spatial scales. Using both Economics and Political Science methods of analysis, we will
study the exercise of power and the accumulation of wealth in the world today as well as
central public policy debates around those processes. We begin with an historical and philosophical argument for the centrality of economic growth to liberal democracy. Then we
move through three course sections organized around contemporary problems in US, global
and comparative political economy. Finally, we end by taking issues usually studied at a
single scale and explore their innate interconnections through an integrated political-economic and public policy analysis of immigration. The goal of this course is both to build
upon theoretical debates encountered in POEC 301 as well as to prepare students for the
public policy analysis they will do in POEC 402.
Format: seminar. Requirements: three 8- to 10-page papers, one 16- to 20-page paper, paper
revision..
Prerequisites: Economics 110 and 120; Political Science 202 or 204, or equivalent. Enrollment limit: 20 (expected: 20). Preference given to Political Economy majors. Required in
the Political Economy major but open to non-majors.
Hour: PAUL