EC228-15 Political Economy: Theory and Applications
Introductory description
This module develops mathematical models of collective decision making that form the standard corpus of modern political economy frameworks and applies them to study the rational behaviour of voters, politicians, and government officials.
The module first introduces the students to the theory of social choice, analysing various ways of aggregating individual preferences into a coherent collective decision, and demonstrates the fundamental trade-offs any democratic mechanism faces. Next, game-theoretic models of political competition in elections are covered in details. The module then moves on to analyse how a group can aggregate information better (or worse) than each of its members and the problems of coordination and free-riding in competing groups of political agents. Overall, this module provides the formal basis for positive and normative analysis of many political institutions.
Module aims
In many economic and political environments, a group of individuals must make a decision that will affect all of its members. Examples abound, including voting in elections, juries, and corporate boards. How to aggregate individual preferences in an optimal way? How different decision-making procedures affect the collective outcomes? This module develops mathematical models to formulate and answer these questions in a precise way. It will provide students with an introduction to the theory of social choice, conventionally defined as the study of the decision-making behaviour of voters, politicians, and government officials from the perspective of economic theory. It can be considered as a bridge between economics and political science, an introduction into more advanced topics in political economy.
As such the module has an important role in contributing to the achievement of the aims of the joint degrees in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) and Economics, Politics and International Studies (EPAIS). However, the module will also appeal to students taking degrees taught entirely within the Economics department, and others.
Outline syllabus
This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.
The module will typically cover some of the following topics:
Voting as preference aggregation;
The social choice approach.
Voting rules: unanimity, simple majority.
Problems of majority voting: cycling, Arrow’s impossibility theorem.
Restrictions on preference profiles.
The single crossing property.
Gibbard-Satterthwaite Theorem, strategy-proofness.
Voting with more than two alternatives: majoritarian methods, Condorcet extensions, and positional methods.
The spatial model of elections.
Majority rule core, global cycling, McKelvey’s chaos theorem.
Game theoretic approaches; two-party competition, median voter theorem.
Public choice in a representative democracy; voting over redistribution.
Voting with incomplete information; Condorcet Jury theorem.
Public goods and collective action; paradox of voting.
Agenda manipulation.
Bargaining in legislatures.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
- Subject Knowledge and Understanding :...demonstrate knowledge and understanding of: Political economy: the decision-making behaviour of voters, politicians and government officials from the perspective of economic theory. The teaching and learning methods that enable students to achieve this and all other learning outcome are: Lectures, seminars, problem sets, and background reading. The summative assessment methods that measure the achievement of this and other learning outcomes are: Midterm and Final Examination.
- Cognitive skills:...demonstrate capacity of: Abstraction and Problem solving. Applying critical analysis to the topics of the module, formulating concepts and hypotheses, and showing how they are tested in relevant literature.
- Cognitive skills:...demonstrate capacity of: Critical, creative and strategic thinking.
- Key Skills:...demonstrate proficiency in study and research skills such as: reviewing the relevant literature and evidence.
- Key Skills:...demonstrate proficiency in study and research skills such as: communicating their knowledge and understanding to others, verbally and in writing.
- Key Skills:...demonstrate proficiency in study and research skills such as: data skills: Use of library and internet as information sources. Knowledge of how to locate relevant data, extract appropriate data, analysis and present material.
- Key Skills:...demonstrate proficiency in study and research skills such as: mathematical/statistical skills: use/application of mathematics and diagrams in economic analysis; understanding of statistical analysis of data.
Indicative reading list
Please see Talis Aspire link for most up to date list.
View reading list on Talis Aspire
Interdisciplinary
The module has an important role in contributing to the achievement of the aims of the joint degrees in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) and Economics, Politics and International Studies (EPAIS), as it is a bridge between the disciplines of Economics and Politics.
This module introduces the material from the perspective of abstract economic theory formulated to study broad classes of social and public choice problems. These problems are foundational for the discipline of political science (in particular, its formal theory subfield) as well as theoretical and empirical research in the fields of public economics and finance.
Subject specific skills
Students will have the opportunity to develop skills in:
Analytical thinking and communication
Analytical reasoning
Critical thinking
Strategic thinking
Problem-solving
Analysis of incentives
Analysis of institutions
Understanding of Uncertainty and Incomplete Information
Transferable skills
Students will have the opportunity to develop:
Research skills
Numeracy and quantitative skills
Written communication skills
Oral communication skills
Mathematical, statistical and data-based research skills
Study time
| Type | Required |
|---|---|
| Lectures | 20 sessions of 1 hour (13%) |
| Seminars | 5 sessions of 1 hour (3%) |
| Private study | 125 hours (83%) |
| Total | 150 hours |
Private study description
Private study will be required in order to prepare for seminars/classes, to review lecture notes, to prepare for forthcoming exams, and to undertake wider reading around the subject.
Costs
No further costs have been identified for this module.
You must pass all assessment components to pass the module.
Assessment group D6
| Weighting | Study time | Eligible for self-certification | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midterm Examination | 20% | No | |
|
A series of questions examining the course content and ensuring learning outcomes are achieved |
|||
| Examination | 80% | No | |
|
A paper which examines the course content and ensures learning outcomes are achieved.
|
|||
Assessment group R1
| Weighting | Study time | Eligible for self-certification | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Final Exam | 100% | No | |
|
Final Exam (100%)
|
|||
Feedback on assessment
The Department of Economics is committed to providing high quality and timely feedback to students on their assessed work, to enable them to review and continuously improve their work. We are dedicated to ensuring feedback is returned to students within 20 University working days of their assessment deadline. Feedback for assignments is returned either on a standardised assessment feedback cover sheet which gives information both by tick boxes and by free comments or via free text comments on tabula, together with the annotated assignment. For tests and problem sets, students receive solutions as an important form of feedback and their marked assignment, with a breakdown of marks and comments by question and sub-question. Students are informed how to access their feedback, either by collecting from the Undergraduate Office or via tabula. Module leaders often provide generic feedback for the cohort outlining what was done well, less well, and what was expected on the assignment and any other common themes. This feedback also includes a cumulative distribution function with summary statistics so students can review their performance in relation to the cohort. This feedback is in addition to the individual-specific feedback on assessment performance.
Pre-requisites
Any of:
EC106-24 Introduction to Economics OR
EC107-30 Economics 1 OR
EC109-30 Microeconomics 1 OR
EC131-15 Economics for Business OR
EC121-12 Mathematical Techniques A OR
EC123-12 Mathematical Techniques B
To take this module, you must have passed:
Courses
This module is Optional for:
-
TECA-L1PA Postgraduate Taught Economics (Diploma plus MSc)
- Year 1 of L1PA Economics (Diploma plus MSc)
- Year 2 of L1PA Economics (Diploma plus MSc)
-
UECA-3 Undergraduate Economics 3 Year Variants
- Year 2 of L100 Economics
- Year 2 of L116 Economics and Industrial Organization
- Year 3 of L100 Economics
-
UECA-4 Undergraduate Economics 4 Year Variants
- Year 2 of LM1H Economics, Politics & International Studies with Study Abroad
- Year 4 of LV16 Economics & Economic History with Study Abroad
- Year 4 of L114 Industrial Economics with Study in Europe
-
UECA-LM1D Undergraduate Economics, Politics and International Studies
- Year 2 of LM1D Economics, Politics and International Studies
- Year 3 of LM1D Economics, Politics and International Studies
-
UPHA-L1CA Undergraduate Economics, Psychology and Philosophy
- Year 2 of L1CA Economics, Psychology and Philosophy
- Year 2 of L1CC Economics, Psychology and Philosophy (Behavioural Economics Pathway)
- Year 2 of L1CD Economics, Psychology and Philosophy (Economics with Philosophy Pathway)
- Year 2 of L1CE Economics, Psychology and Philosophy (Philosophy and Psychology Pathway)
- Year 3 of L1CA Economics, Psychology and Philosophy
- Year 3 of L1CC Economics, Psychology and Philosophy (Behavioural Economics Pathway)
- Year 3 of L1CD Economics, Psychology and Philosophy (Economics with Philosophy Pathway)
- Year 3 of L1CE Economics, Psychology and Philosophy (Philosophy and Psychology Pathway)
-
UPHA-L1CB Undergraduate Economics, Psychology and Philosophy (with Intercalated Year)
- Year 4 of L1CG Economics, Psychology and Philosophy (Behavioural Economics Pathway) (with Intercalated Year)
- Year 4 of L1CH Economics, Psychology and Philosophy (Economics with Philosophy Pathway) (with Intercalated Year)
- Year 4 of L1CJ Economics, Psychology and Philosophy (Philosophy and Psychology Pathway) (with Intercalated Year)
- Year 4 of L1CB Economics, Psychology and Philosophy (with Intercalated Year)
- Year 3 of UMAA-GL11 Undergraduate Mathematics and Economics
- Year 4 of UECA-GL12 Undergraduate Mathematics and Economics (with Intercalated Year)
-
UPHA-V7ML Undergraduate Philosophy, Politics and Economics
- Year 2 of V7ML Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Tripartite)
- Year 3 of V7ML Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Tripartite)
-
UPHA-V7MM Undergraduate Philosophy, Politics and Economics (with Intercalated year)
- Year 4 of V7MQ Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Bipartite) with Intercalated Year
- Year 4 of V7MH Philosophy, Politics and Economics - Economics/Philosophy Bipartite (Economics Major) (with Intercalated year)
- Year 4 of V7MF Philosophy, Politics and Economics - Economics/Politics Bipartite (Economics Major) (with Intercalated year)
- Year 4 of V7MI Philosophy, Politics and Economics - Philosophy/Economics Bipartite (Philosophy Major) (with Intercalated year)
- Year 4 of V7MJ Philosophy, Politics and Economics - Philosophy/Politics Bipartite (with Intercalated year)
- Year 4 of V7MG Philosophy, Politics and Economics - Politics/Economics Bipartite (Politics Major) (with Intercalated year)
This module is Unusual option for:
-
UPHA-L1CA Undergraduate Economics, Psychology and Philosophy
- Year 2 of L1CA Economics, Psychology and Philosophy
- Year 3 of L1CA Economics, Psychology and Philosophy
-
UPHA-V7ML Undergraduate Philosophy, Politics and Economics
- Year 2 of V7MR Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Bipartite with Economics Major)
- Year 2 of V7MP Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Bipartite)
- Year 2 of V7ML Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Tripartite)
- Year 3 of V7MR Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Bipartite with Economics Major)
- Year 3 of V7MP Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Bipartite)
-
UPHA-V7MM Undergraduate Philosophy, Politics and Economics (with Intercalated year)
- Year 4 of V7MS Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Bipartite with Economics Major) (with Intercalated Year)
- Year 4 of V7MQ Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Bipartite) with Intercalated Year
- Year 4 of V7MM Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Tripartite) (with Intercalated year)
This module is Option list B for:
- Year 2 of UPHA-V7ML Undergraduate Philosophy, Politics and Economics
This module is Option list C for:
-
UPHA-V7ML Undergraduate Philosophy, Politics and Economics
- Year 3 of V7MP Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Bipartite)
- Year 3 of V7ML Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Tripartite)
-
UPHA-V7MM Undergraduate Philosophy, Politics and Economics (with Intercalated year)
- Year 4 of V7MS Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Bipartite with Economics Major) (with Intercalated Year)
- Year 4 of V7MQ Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Bipartite) with Intercalated Year
- Year 4 of V7MM Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Tripartite) (with Intercalated year)
This module is Option list D for:
-
UPHA-V7ML Undergraduate Philosophy, Politics and Economics
- Year 2 of V7MR Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Bipartite with Economics Major)
- Year 3 of V7MR Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Bipartite with Economics Major)