Course 2016-2017 a.y.

Go to class group/s: 31

CLEAM (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/02) - CLEF (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/02) - BESS-CLES (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/02) - BIEF (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/02) - BIEM (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/02)

Course Director:
RICCARDO PUGLISI

Course Objectives

How do politics and institutions affect the economy? The course is designed to provide students with an introduction to contemporary political economics. The goal is to understand the political and social determinants of economic performance in advanced and developing countries. The first half of the course focuses on advanced democracies. Here we study how political and electoral incentives of governments shape economic policies, and on how differences in economic policies may arise from political institutions, such as electoral rules and regime types. The second half of the course studies how political institutions and cultural traits interact with economic development, trying to understand why some countries prosper and others fail to do so. We also explore what lessons from State formation in European political history are still relevant for developing countries today.

Course Content Summary

• Political incentives and fiscal policy.
• Forms of political participation: voting, lobbying and protests.
• Electoral rules and electoral competition.
• The impact of political institutions on decision-making, with a particular emphasis on the role of party systems, executive-legislative relations, electoral systems, interest groups, checks and balances.
• Political corruption: what are its causes and how to discourage it.
• Causes and consequences of democratizations in developing countries.
• Interactions between formal and informal institutions.
• State formation and state capacity.

Detailed Description of Assessment Methods

Written exam. The detailed grading system will be provided at the beginning of the course

Textbooks

Readings are provided at the beginning of the course.

Exam textbooks & Online Articles (check availability at the Library)

Last change 13/06/2016 15:48