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Department of Political and Social Change · ANU College of Asia and the Pacific
This course is designed to serve as an in-depth introduction to political economy, broadly defined. It will survey and discuss the political and institutional factors underlying cross- national and subnational variation in economic performance. The course is structured around the following issues or questions: - Why do countries differ so much in their level of economic development?; - What is the role of political institutions in promoting economic development? - How do the structures and capacities of the state affect economic performance? - To what extent are countries and regions destined for a certain level of development due to their geography, culture, or history? - What is the political logic of inequality and welfare state? The scope of the course is analytical in its theoretical perspective and comparative from a methodological point of view. Knowledge of quantitative data analysis is recommended but not required.
Class participation
Learning outcomes 1, 2, 3, 5
Essay due in week 5 (1500 - 2000 words)
Learning outcomes 1, 2, 3
Oral presentation on a specific developing country
Learning outcomes 1, 4, 5
Oral Presentation of a Self-selected Piece of Reading
Learning outcomes 1, 2, 3
Essay due in week 12 (1500 - 2000 words)
Learning outcomes 1, 2, 3
Workloads includes 120 hours, consisting of 3 contact hours and 7 hours private study per week
A reading brick will be made available Preliminary Reading Kohli, Atul. “Where do High-Growth Political Economies Come From? The Japanese Lineage of Korea’s Developmental State” in Meredith Woo-Cumings, The Developmental State. (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1999). pp. 93-136. Stasavage, David and Robin Harding. 2014. “What Democracy Does (and Doesn't Do) for Basic Services: School Fees, School Inputs, and African Elections.” The Journal of Politics 76: 229–245 Ross, Michael. (2006) “Is Democracy Good for the Poor?” American Journal of Political Science, 50(4):860- 874 David Stasavage. 2002. “Credible Commitment in Early Modern Europe: North and Weingast Revisited,” Journal of Law, Economics and Organization 18(1): 155-186. Abramson, Scott. & Carles Boix 2019. Endogenous Parliaments: The Domestic and International Roots of Long-Term Economic Growth and Executive Constraints in Europe. International Organization. 73(4): 793-837. Stanislav Markus (2012). "Secure Property as a Bottom-Up Process: Firms, Stakeholders, and Predators in Weak States," World Politics, 64 (2) (April 2012): 242-277. Berger D, Easterly W, Nunn N, Satyanath S. (2013) Commercial Imperialism? Political Influence and Trade During the Cold War. American Economic Review. 103 (2): 863-896 Findlay, Ronald and Kevin O’Rourke. 2007. Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium. (Princeton: Princeton University Press). 429-526.