Political Economy
Code
2184
Academic unit
null
Department
null
Credits
3,5
Teacher in charge
Pedro Magalhães
Teaching language
English
Objectives
The purpose of this course is to familiarize students to what is known about the relationship between the economy and the political attitudes and behaviors of mass publics. It is an itinerary through some of the political science and political economy studies on these issues, covering:
- the relation between different aspects of economic performance and political incumbent support;
- the extent to which this relationship is affected by institutional and other factors shaping the assignment of policy and political responsibility;
- the extent to which the policy preferences of voters are affected (and in turn affect) economic policies;
- and, finally, how aspects of the broader economic context of a polity affect the attitudes and values of citizens.
Prerequisites
Reasonably good English and basic econometrics.
Subject matter
List the main topics covered in the course:
* Political support and the economy: the basic function.
* Partisan theories
* Retrospective vs. prospective voters
* Clarity of responsibility for the economy
* The problems with perceptions of the economy
* Policies and preferences
* The political consequences of development and inequality
Bibliography
Preliminary:
Mueller, J. E. 1970.Presidential popularity from Truman to Johnson. The American Political Science Review 64 (1): 18-34.
Wright, John R. 2012. Unemployment and the Democratic Electoral Advantage. American Political Science Review 106 (04): 685-702.
MacKuen, Michael B., Robert S. Erikson, and James A. Stimson. 1992. Peasants or Bankers
The American Electorate and the U.S.Economy. The American Political Science Review 86 (3): 597-611.
Whitten, G. D., and H. D. Palmer. 1999. Cross-national analyses of economic voting. Electoral Studies 18 (1): 49-67.
Hellwig, Timothy T. 2001. Interdependence, Government Constraints, and Economic Voting.
The Journal of Politics 63 (04): 1141-1162.
Evans, G., and M. Pickup. 2010. Reversing the Causal Arrow: The Political Conditioning of Economic Perceptions in the 2000-2004 US Presidential Election Cycle. The Journal of Politics 72 (4): 1236-1251.
Soroka, Stuart N., and Christopher Wlezien. 2005. Opinion Policy Dynamics: Public Preferences and Public Expenditure in the United Kingdom. British Journal of Political Science 35 (04):
665-689.
Welzel, Christian, Ronald Inglehart, and Hans-Dieter Kligemann. 2003. The theory of human development: A cross-cultural analysis. European Journal of Political Research 42 (3):
341-379
Teaching method
The course will be delivered through fourteen sessions lectures, following a theoretical-practical approach. While one of the week s sessions focus on the general treatment of each of the seven major topics, the other session will involved detailed analysis of a particular landmark study and/or the data on which it is based. It is essential that students prepare for the classes by doing the recommended readings and/or exercises every week.
Evaluation method
Individual written work cannot count for less than 50% of the final grade. The final written exam cannot count for more than 70% of the final grade. Please indicate if Final exam in your Course will be mandatory.