The goal of this junior seminar is to engage students in consideration of the relationship between politics and economics, with a focus on the global South. We will begin with a historically-rooted evaluation of “development” as a framework for thinking about the role of states in markets and the character of economic performance, alongside the emergence of post-colonial states. A focus of this discussion will be the interaction between actors at the domestic and international levels, and the changing relevance of the global economy for domestic economic outcomes. The final portion of the course will consider more recent research that aims to apply current tools of political economic research to questions about the importance of politics for market function, the relevance of political institutions to policy outcomes, the persistence of inefficient institutions, and the relevance of the international economy for domestic actors.
Course Restrictions: Students who take PS 191 Sec 005 with Prof. Bussell cannot ALSO take PS 140Z with Prof. Wilfahrt due to the substantial similarity in course content.