BA (Hons) Economics, Politics & Public Policy

What you'll study Year 1 (credit level 4)

Students take the following three compulsory modules:

Year 1 compulsory modules Module title Credits. Political Theory and Ideologies Political Theory and Ideologies 30 credits

This is an introduction to political theory and an exploration of why central political ideas and concepts influence our understanding of the world around us. Assessed by: one essay and a two-hour unseen examination.

30 credits. UK and European Comparative Governance and Politics UK and European Comparative Governance and Politics 30 credits

This unit introduces students to the comparative approach to politics and government, in addition to building a understanding of the politics and governance of four key members of the European Union: the UK, Germany, Italy and France.

The first half of the unit is focused on the UK and also considers the EU as an institution, while the second half concentrates on the other three countries at the unit’s core.

Students will not only build an essential foundation for studying the politics of the UK and EU, but will also develop their skills in comparative methods.

30 credits. World Politics World Politics 30 credits

This unit will introduce students to the study of world politics, emphasising that there are different and competing perspectives on how to approach the subject.

In the first term, we focus on the three dominant paradigms (realism, pluralism and structuralism) that defined the discipline of International Relations throughout the 20th Century. We situate those paradigms in the historical context in which they were developed and critically examine both their contribution to our understanding of world politics and their shortcomings.

In the second term, the unit identifies some of the contours of the post-Cold War inter-national environment. In particular, it explores claims that contemporary world politics are defined by processes of globalisation.

30 credits. Foundations of Economics Foundations of Economics 30 credits

This module introduces students to microeconomics, macroeconomics and the context of economic analysis. Students will get a good grounding in microeconomic theory and will understand the principles used in mainstream rational choice and perfect competition theory.

The course will cover preference theory, demand and supply, income and substitution effects, cost and revenue curves, perfect competition and partial equilibrium theory. The focus here is the internal consistency of neoclassical microeconomics as exemplified in rational choice theory and competitive markets, and its use of logic. Arguments showing the context and limited nature of neoclassical economic tools in explaining the economic and social reality will be discussed throughout these weeks.

Then students will be taught topics of macroeconomics. In this section, the focus will be on the following specific concepts: national accounting, inflation, unemployment and business cycles. The analysis of these concepts will be through the use of contemporary schools of economic thought (New Classical, New Keynesian, Post Keynesian, and Monetarist) and their analytical frameworks. By viewing these concepts through these different frameworks, the student is introduced into open-ended discussions on these topics as different answers are equally valid as long as students can clearly identify the theoretical frameworks that he/she is using.

Finally, students then will learn about the social, political and business context of economic theory through the discussion of case studies and real-world examples.

30 credits.

Students then take either:

Module title Credits. Introduction to Political Economy Introduction to Political Economy 15 credits

This module provides an introduction to the main theories, concepts, and topics in the field of political economy. The principal aim of the module is to explore how our conceptions of the economy and of economic action are inescapably political, by which I mean that they are a) based upon political assumptions concerning human agency and b) have political implications.

The module explores these hypotheses by examining the emergence and history of economics beginning with Adam Smith, progressing through the marginalist economists and neoclassical economics and finishing with modern political economists such as Joseph Stiglitz and Ha-Joon Chang.

15 credits. Introduction to Economic Policy Introduction to Economic Policy 15 credits

This module provides an introduction to the main theories, concepts, and topics concerning economic policy.

The principal aim of the module is to examine the ways in which public, economic, and international policies (which are in practice interchangeable) are bound up with political economic understandings of the economy and economic agency. Put differently, the aim of the module is to explore the deep and ineradicable links between political practice and economic ideas.

The module explores these links by progressing through the basic concepts in public policy (such as public goods and monetary/fiscal policies) before an examination of the main issues, questions and developments in modern policy such as gender, financial crises and international organisation.

15 credits.

or the following 30 credit IMS module:

Module title Credits. Introductory Economics Introductory Economics 30 credits

This module has three distinct sections.

The first part, made up of six weeks of lectures, deals with different schools of economic thought. The focus of this section is to present important schools of thought, their core ideas, and discuss why their viewpoints are so different. It covers Classical, Institutional, Marxist, Historical, and Neoclassical schools of thought.

The next six weeks focus on microeconomic theory, in particular deductive reasoning used in mainstream rational choice and perfect competition theory. This section covers preference theory, demand and supply, income and substitution effects, cost and revenue curves, perfect competition and partial equilibrium theory. This progression will end with a description of general equilibrium and the two welfare theorems.

The last six weeks looks at macroeconomics. In this section the focus is on specific concepts: national accounting, inflation, unemployment and business cycles. These concepts are analysed through the use of contemporary schools of economic thought (New Classical, New Keynesian, Post Keynesian, and Monetarist) and their analytical frameworks, prompting open discussions and debate.

30 credits. Year 2 (credit level 5)

Students study either:

Module title Credits. Political Economy Political Economy 30 credits

This module introduces students to the various attempts to clarify and understand the links between economic and political processes which come under the banner of ‘political economy’. As a whole, the module is intended to draw out the links between the broad “school”-level approaches (such as Marxism, economic sociology, methodological individualism and institutional economics) and contemporary issues and analyses (concerning questions of resource scarcity, predation, coordination failures and trust).

To this end, the module is split into two broad parts. The first guides students through the main thematic approaches to political economy in order to examine the principle concepts theorists have used to understand and explain economic processes. The second part seeks to apply these concepts to contemporary economic issues and questions.

It seeks to both clarify and examine the various understandings of the market and the state which have shaped the direction of economic research, so that students can finish the module with a clear understanding of the various ideas, concerns and beliefs which motivate real-world political economic arguments.

*students must have taken Economics modules at level 4

30 credits. Topics in International Economics Topics in International Economics 15 credits

This module introduces students to key topics in international economics. It is divided into two parts.

In Part I, we will study trade theory and policy to understand the patterns, determinants, and consequences of international trade. Topics covered in this part include the basics and critique of classical and neoclassical trade theory, economies of scale, international factor mobility, and the effect of trade on wages and income distribution.

Part II of the module will provide students with a set of tools to understand and systematically analyze the monetary side of the international economy. Key topics covered include the balance of payments, the determination of exchange rates, interest rates and prices in open economies, different exchange rate regimes (fixed versus floating), interdependence of economies, and the international financial markets.

Further, we will employ this theory to better understand recent issues such as the persistence of the US current account deficit; the creation of the Euro and the future of the US Dollar as a reserve currency; the nature and consequences of financial crises.

Students are expected to come out of this module with a deeper understanding of international trade and monetary theory and related economic policy issues.

15 credits.

Or:

Module title Credits. International Political Economy 1 International Political Economy 1 15 credits

This module introduces students to the sub-discipline of international or global political economy (IPE). Its focus will be on the connections and interactions between domestic economic processes and policies and international economic developments.

Students will be introduced to the major theoretical traditions in IPE and the overarching debates concerning international collaboration, coordination and competition, before exploring the various issues and problems faced by international actors, such as those concerning trade, finance and the environment.

The module will draw attention to the potential (and contested) links between international developments/issues and domestic political and economic issues throughout, with the intention of encouraging students to develop a perspective on both the constraints the “international” poses upon domestic actors and the duties domestic actors have to the former.

15 credits. Topics in International Economics Topics in International Economics 15 credits

This module introduces students to key topics in international economics. It is divided into two parts.

In Part I, we will study trade theory and policy to understand the patterns, determinants, and consequences of international trade. Topics covered in this part include the basics and critique of classical and neoclassical trade theory, economies of scale, international factor mobility, and the effect of trade on wages and income distribution.

Part II of the module will provide students with a set of tools to understand and systematically analyze the monetary side of the international economy. Key topics covered include the balance of payments, the determination of exchange rates, interest rates and prices in open economies, different exchange rate regimes (fixed versus floating), interdependence of economies, and the international financial markets.

Further, we will employ this theory to better understand recent issues such as the persistence of the US current account deficit; the creation of the Euro and the future of the US Dollar as a reserve currency; the nature and consequences of financial crises.

Students are expected to come out of this module with a deeper understanding of international trade and monetary theory and related economic policy issues.

15 credits.

Their remaining 90 credits are made up from the list of options currently available in the Department:

Year 2 option modules Module title Credits. Making Modern Japan Making Modern Japan 15 credits

This module addresses a number of themes that relate to questions of nationalism, imperialism, identity and gender, focusing on Japan’s emergence as a modern nation state, its imperial project and its catastrophic defeat, culminating in the dropping of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and its occupation by Allied forces. The historical perspective, which the module seeks to offer, is central to an understanding of Japan’s troubled relationship with its Asian neighbours, and of its claims of uniqueness, which have their legacy in its position as both coloniser and colonised. The module approaches questions of politics through a very expansive definition of the term, treating cinema, animation, manga, and other popular cultural forms as important sites for the articulation of political anxieties and concerns, which are not necessarily reflected in more conventional forms of political activity, such as political debates, deliberations of the Diet and so on.

15 credits. Chinese Politics: The Revolutionary Era Chinese Politics: The Revolutionary Era 15 credits

This is a broad, historically-based survey module of Chinese politics that takes the student from the early days of communist partisanship through to the end of the Cultural Revolution (from 1921 to 1976 or thereabouts). This module is designed to offer both an overview of and background to, contemporary Mainland Chinese political culture and an insight into a form of politics that is very different from that of liberal democracy.

This module is a lot more historically oriented than many of the other survey modules offered in the Department, but to understand this country requires an understanding of this history which is still lived very much as an on-going set of norms and values. It is difficult to understand China today without an understanding of this history and what this module offers is a survey account of this period.

15 credits. Contemporary International Relations Theories Contemporary International Relations Theories 15 credits

This module focuses on the principal debates and issues that have been shaping world politics since the end of the Cold War.

The module provides a detailed review of the main theoretical perspectives contributing to contemporary international relations theory, critically assesses what international relations theory is about, identifies the abstractions and logic it deploys, and interrogates its relation to the outside world.

15 credits. Europe Since 1945 Europe Since 1945 15 credits

This module investigates the history of European society since 1945. This historical overview is divided into four thematic sections of several lectures each:

• Cold War and Post-Cold War Europe
• The Great Economic Boom and the Rise of Globalisation: Keynesianism, Neo-Liberalism and the Welfare State
• End of Empires West and East: Decolonisation and the Rise of Multicultural Europe
• European Integration and the Reconstruction of the European Nation-State

These themes reflect the unique changes in Europe since 1945, which still make this a valid periodisation today.

15 credits. Global Governance and World Order Global Governance and World Order 15 credits

This module explores the place and the role of international organisations in the international system. The module covers historical, theoretical, legal and policy-related aspects of the evolving nature and roles of international organisations in world politics.

A particular focus is the widening and deepening of international governance that has occurred since the end of the Cold War. This process of global governance is framed as a response to the increased prevalence of transnational concerns and problems that cannot be resolved by individual sovereign states.

The module explores how international organisations, in alliance with states and non-governmental actors, identify and respond to these problems.

15 credits. Ideologies and Interests: Political Thought in Modern Britain Ideologies and Interests: Political Thought in Modern Britain 15 credits

A critical and historical study of political thinking and political argument in the United Kingdom since the early twentieth century to the present day, examining liberalism, socialism, conservatism, anarchism, feminism, the rise of the modern state, the nature of politics, and the character of the political community.

The module examines the work of important thinkers from the William Morris and the Webbs through George Orwell and Virginia Woolf to the present day.

15 credits. International Monetary Economics International Monetary Economics 15 credits

The purpose of the course is to provide students with a set of theoretical tools and concepts that will enable them to understand and systematically analyse the monetary side of the international economy.

Key topics covered include the balance of payments, the determination of ex-change rates, interest rates, and prices in open economies, different exchange rate regimes (fixed vs. floating), the interdependence of economies, and international macroeconomic policy.

We will also employ this theory to better understand recent issues such as the persistence of the US current account deficit; the creation of the Euro and the future of the US Dollar as the key international currency; the nature and consequences of financial crises.

Students are expected to come out of this course with a deeper