This course will examine how government and industry interact to “govern” markets by surveying debates over specific substantive issues in the advanced industrial countries, especially the United States. Topics include intellectual property rights, financial regulation, accounting standards, antitrust policy, the regulation of competition in network industries, and fabricated markets such as spectrum auctions and cap-and-trade schemes. The course adopts an interdisciplinary approach to these topics, building on analytical perspectives from institutional economics and economic sociology as well as political science.
The Junior Seminars are intense writing seminars which focus on the research area of the faculty member teaching the course. The seminars provide an opportunity for students to have direct intellectual interactions with faculty members while also giving the students an understanding for faculty research.
This junior seminar falls within the "Comparative Politics" subfield, and can fulfill an upper-division requirement for the major.
Political Science Majors of Junior and Senior status (must be 3rd or 4th year students with at least 60 units completed). Priority may be given to students who have not yet taken a junior seminar. Some background in economics strongly recommended. Students with a solid background in political economy and a strong interest in the substantive issues covered will get the most out of this course.