GV907-7-AU-CO:
Comparative Political Economy
2024/25
Government
Colchester Campus
Autumn
Postgraduate: Level 7
Current
Thursday 03 October 2024
Friday 13 December 2024
15
22 April 2024
Requisites for this module
(none)
GV947
(none)
(none)
GV947
MA L20612 Political Economy,
MA L206EB Political Economy,
MA L206EK Political Economy,
MRESL20624 Political Economy,
MSC L20612 Political Economy,
MSC L206EB Political Economy,
MSC L206EK Political Economy,
MSC L16512 Quantitative International Development
This is a graduate course on comparative political economy. The course is divided into different themes addressing how domestic politics affect domestic economics, as well as the reverse: how domestic and economics affect domestic politics. For example, we will cover how domestic politics affect areas like industrial/labour policy, fiscal/debt policy, and social/regional transfers. We also examine how domestic and economics affect areas like voting preferences and electoral behaviour, party systems and political stability, redistribution and the welfare state. The class emphasizes core theoretical insights, using them to delve into traditional and more recent theoretical and empirical debates. The module also emphasizes research using quantitative methods to test theoretical arguments.
The aims of this module are:
- To introduce students to contemporary scholarly research on political economy topics.
- To introduce students to key models in political science and their substantive applications.
- To stimulate students to form original ideas for promising quantitative research projects in the area of contemporary political economy.
By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:
- Read, understand, and evaluate quantitative analyses and scholarly work published in the leading journals.
- Understand evaluation methods for particular research questions, research designs, and variables.
- Measure variables of interest and conduct empirical analyses using various statistical methods.
- Analyse quantitative data.
- Complete a replication activity and present it.
Transferable Skills
Students will require, use and develop the following key skills:
- Transfer of ideas: Students will be helped to follow and assess quantitative research in other modules – parties and elections, comparative politics, IR, and so on.
- Improving independent learning and performance: Students will learn to address their own research topics in a quantitative framework with an eye towards scholarly publication.
- Communication, interaction, and peer review: Classes involve not only questions from me but also group discussions; students are required to give formal feedback to other students in written form.
- Writing: Students learn how to theorize, generate empirically testable hypotheses, and report on and discuss results of quantitative analyses.
The module is the core module for students on the MA/MSC/MRes in Political Economy and can be taken as an option by students on other Masters courses in the Department of Government.
The module will be delivered via:
- One two-hour class per week.
The module will run over 10 weeks.
.
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Hobolt, S., Tilley, J. and Banducci, S. (2013) 'Clarity of responsibility: How government cohesion conditions performance voting',
European Journal of Political Research, 52(2), pp. 164–187. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2012.02072.x.
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Benton, A.L. (2005) 'Dissatisfied Democrats or Retrospective Voters?',
Comparative Political Studies, 38(4), pp. 417–442. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414004273856.
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KAYSER, M.A. and PERESS, M. (2012) 'Benchmarking across Borders: Electoral Accountability and the Necessity of Comparison',
American Political Science Review, 106(3), pp. 661–684. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055412000275.
-
Eslava, M. (2011) 'The Political Economy of Fiscal Deficits: A Survey',
Journal of Economic Surveys, 25(4), pp. 645–673. Available at:
https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/doi/full/10.1111/j.1467-6419.2010.00647.x.
-
Shi, M. and Svensson, J. (2006) 'Political budget cycles: Do they differ across countries and why?',
Journal of Public Economics, 90(8-9), pp. 1367–1389. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2005.09.009.
-
Schneider, C.J. (2010) 'Fighting with one hand tied behind the back: political budget cycles in the West German states',
Public Choice, 142(1-2), pp. 125–150. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-009-9480-5.
-
Lucardi, A. (2019) 'Strength in Expectation: Elections, Economic Performance, and Authoritarian Breakdown',
The Journal of Politics, 81(2), pp. 552–570. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1086/701723.
-
-
Han, K. (2022) 'Political Budgetary Cycles in Autocratic Redistribution',
Comparative Political Studies, 55(5), pp. 727–756. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1177/00104140211036038.
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Rickard, S.J. (2009) 'Strategic Targeting',
Comparative Political Studies, 42(5), pp. 670–695. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414008328643.
-
Holland, A.C. (2018) 'Diminished Expectations',
World Politics, 70(4), pp. 555–594. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0043887118000096.
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Michael Albertus (2015) 'Explaining Patterns of Redistribution under Autocracy: The Case of Peru's Revolution from Above',
Latin American Research Review, 50(2). Available at:
https://shibbolethsp.jstor.org/start?entityID=https%3A%2F%2Fidp0.essex.ac.uk%2Fshibboleth&dest=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43670292&site=jstor.
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Rodden, J. (2003) 'Reviving Leviathan: Fiscal Federalism and the Growth of Government',
International Organization, 57(4), pp. 695–729. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818303574021.
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Benton, A.L. (2019) 'Party Leader or Party Reputation Concerns? How Vertical Partisan Alignment Reins in Subnational Fiscal Profligacy',
The Journal of Politics, 81(1), pp. 201–214. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1086/700201.
-
Rogers, M. (2021) 'Federalism and the welfare state in Latin America',
Regional & Federal Studies, 31(1), pp. 163–184. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1080/13597566.2020.1749841.
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Matz Dahlberg and Eva Johansson (2002) 'On the Vote-Purchasing Behavior of Incumbent Governments',
The American Political Science Review, 96(1). Available at:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3117808?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.
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Casas, A. (2020) 'The electoral benefits of unemployment, clientelism and distributive politics',
World Development, 129. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.104908.
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Hee Park, J. and Jensen, N. (2007) 'Electoral Competition and Agricultural Support in OECD Countries',
American Journal of Political Science, 51(2), pp. 314–329. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2007.00253.x.
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Valdez, J. (2021) 'What Capital Wants: Business Interests and Labor Market Reform in Portugal and Spain',
Comparative Politics, 53(4), pp. 571–596. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.5129/001041521X16059843939568.
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THATCHER, M. (2005) 'The Third Force? Independent Regulatory Agencies and Elected Politicians in Europe',
Governance, 18(3), pp. 347–373. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0491.2005.00280.x.
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Miller, S.M., Witko, C. and Woods, N.D. (2018) 'How the Unorganized Mass Public (Sometimes) Gets Represented in Regulatory Politics',
Political Research Quarterly, 71(1), pp. 88–101. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912917724005.
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Perlman, R.L. (2020) 'For Safety or Profit? How Science Serves the Strategic Interests of Private Actors',
American Journal of Political Science, 64(2), pp. 293–308. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12450.
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CHANG, E.C.C. and GOLDEN, M.A. (2007) 'Electoral Systems, District Magnitude and Corruption',
British Journal of Political Science, 37(1), pp. 115–137. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123407000063.
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Figueroa, V. (2021) 'Political Corruption Cycles: High-Frequency Evidence from Argentina's Notebooks Scandal',
Comparative Political Studies, 54(3-4), pp. 482–517. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414020938102.
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Esarey, J. and Schwindt-Bayer, L.A. (2018) 'Women's Representation, Accountability and Corruption in Democracies',
British Journal of Political Science, 48(3), pp. 659–690. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123416000478.
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SIMMONS, B.A. and ELKINS, Z. (2004) 'The Globalization of Liberalization: Policy Diffusion in the International Political Economy',
American Political Science Review, 98(1), pp. 171–189. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055404001078.
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Shipan, C.R. and Volden, C. (2008) 'The Mechanisms of Policy Diffusion',
American Journal of Political Science, 52(4), pp. 840–857. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2008.00346.x.
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Mosley, L. (2000) 'Room to Move: International Financial Markets and National Welfare States',
International Organization, 54(4), pp. 737–773. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1162/002081800551352.
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Ehrlich, S.D. (2007) 'Access to Protection: Domestic Institutions and Trade Policy in Democracies',
International Organization, 61(03). Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818307070191.
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Pond, A. (2017) 'Economic Sanctions and Demand for Protection',
Journal of Conflict Resolution, 61(5), pp. 1073–1094. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1177/0022002715596777.
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Ritchie, M.N. and You, H.Y. (2021) 'Trump and Trade: Protectionist Politics and Redistributive Policy',
The Journal of Politics, 83(2), pp. 800–805. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1086/710322.
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Johns, L. and Wellhausen, R.L. (2021) 'The price of doing business: Why replaceable foreign firms get worse government treatment',
Economics & Politics, 33(2), pp. 209–243. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1111/ecpo.12172.
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Feng, Y., Kerner, A. and Sumner, J.L. (2021) 'Quitting globalization: trade-related job losses, nationalism, and resistance to FDI in the United States',
Political Science Research and Methods, 9(2), pp. 292–311. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2019.30.
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Bastiaens, I. (2016) 'The Politics of Foreign Direct Investment in Authoritarian Regimes',
International Interactions, 42(1), pp. 140–171. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1080/03050629.2015.1065699.
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Beaulieu, E., Cox, G.W. and Saiegh, S. (2012) 'Sovereign Debt and Regime Type: Reconsidering the Democratic Advantage',
International Organization, 66(4), pp. 709–738. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818312000288.
The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's
reading list.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
Critical Writing Assignment 1 |
|
30% |
| Coursework |
Response Paper |
|
30% |
| Coursework |
Power Point Presentation |
|
40% |
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Martin Steinwand, email: martin.steinwand@essex.ac.uk.
Martin Steinwand
Please contact govpgquery@essex.ac.uk
Yes
Yes
Yes
No external examiner information available for this module.
Available via Moodle
No lecture recording information available for this module.
Government
* Please note: due to differing publication schedules, items marked with an asterisk (*) base their information upon the previous academic year.
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