Political Economics

Political economy originally derived its name as a separate field in the 18^th century as the study of the economies of states and polities, hence the study was known by the name political economy. Corresponding with publication of an influential textbook by Alfred Marshall in 1890 in the late 19^th century, the term 'economics' replaced 'political economy',

As Economics is the social science that analyse the production, distribution, trade and consumption of goods and services and their management, Political economy originally was the term for studying production, buying and selling, and included the study of their relations with law, custom, and government, as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth, and also the budget process.

Today, political economy can be simply defined as the advice given by economists to the government or public on general economic policy or on specific proposals and also the suggestions and recommendations based on economics analysis to improve the economic condition, if so required.

Curriculum / Topics / Contents:

The areas of study and specific fields of inquiry include the following:

• Positive Political Theory
• Theories of Collective Action
• Institutional Analysis
• Analysis of Political Competition and Equilibrium
• Regulation
• Distributive Politics
• Elections
• Corporate Politics
• Political Participation
• Interest Groups
• Constitutional Choice
• Legislative Behaviour and Organization
• Judicial Institutions
• Bureaucracies
• Cooperative Political Economy
• Macro Political Economy
• Law and Economics
• Business and Government

The study of Political economics gives the students an opportunity to apply the strengths of economic methods and analysis and political science to the study of collective action, political institutions and the public policy.