Center for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics

Political Economy and Institutions

The Political Economy and Institutions research cluster examines the interrelationship between politics and economics. It is a field of study that focuses on the ways in which political institutions, policies, culture, and actions affect the economy and vice versa. Often the economic and political institutions that existed centuries ago still have a long-run persistent effect on today’s political and economic world. Scholars working within political economy also often take into account the distribution of power and resources within a society, and how these factors shape the creation, implementation, and outcomes of economic policies. In addition to applying economic tools to, what have traditionally been, political questions, philosophers working in political economy today often derive new insights by turning to economic models, like game theory, to investigate and reexamine classic questions about power, justice, and value.

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Related Courses

POLS1465: Introduction to Political Economy

This class provides an introduction to topics in political economy with a focus on using basic models to understand both individuals and groups facing a variety of social dilemmas. Simple formal models will provide a framework for understanding problems in politics and political economy, including the collective action problem, prisoner’s dilemma, coordination problems, and more generally the importance of formal and informal institutions in guiding social outcomes. The class surveys major thinkers in political economy and uses their ideas to understand major changes in society, markets, and states from an historical perspective.

POLS2040: Institutions, Crime, and Violence

Will examine relationships and interactions among institutions, criminal actors, and violence. State-based institutions play an important role in explaining the level of disorganized or organized crime. Organized crime groups, in turn, influence both state-based institutions (for example, through corrupting officials) and other criminal activity, often by creating the “rules of the game” by which other criminals can act. Finally, both state-based and criminal actors and institutions influence the level of violence in society. Each of these three influences, and is influenced by, the others. This course offers the opportunity to better understand how these three factors relate to each other.

PHIL 0555: Choice, Commerce, and Conflict: An Introduction to PPE

This interdisciplinary course provides an overview of some of the core conceptual tools used to analyze issues at the intersection of philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE). A range of theoretical topics are covered, including: game theory, property, markets, distributive justice, public choice theory, voting, and more. We will read classical and contemporary sources on these topics as well as explore their applications to contemporary social problems (including: climate change, healthcare rationing, price gouging, universal basic income, pharmaceutical regulations, and others).

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