4.0

credits

Average Course Rating

This course is intended to bridge the gap between economics and politics as taught at SAIS. First examines some of the main “currents” in the literature and familiarizes the student with different variants of political economy. Presents an overview of the classical liberal, Marxian/Polanyian and Keynesian understandings of the economy, each of which serves as both a primer to political economy and as an introduction to the main contemporary approaches. Then engages with what many scholars argue is the major approach in comparative political economy: rational choice theory. By contrast, the next section looks beyond the rationalist tradition to the nowadays somewhat neglected historical tradition. Building on the historical tradition, next examines institutionalist approaches, explaining institutional change and stability over time through path dependence and earlier arrangements. Concludes with more social constructivist understandings of political economy, emphasizing the powerful role of economic ideas in the evolution of economic policymaking over time.