Universität Wien

040297 KU Political Economy (MA) (2020W)

Track in Policy Evaluation

8.00 ECTS (4.00 SWS), SPL 4 - Wirtschaftswissenschaften
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 30 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

As long as the conditions and class size allow it, the course will take place in physical presence only. If physical presence is not feasible, the class will take place in a "hybrid" form (combining online and physical presence of smaller groups).

  • Thursday 01.10. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Tuesday 06.10. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Thursday 08.10. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Tuesday 13.10. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Thursday 15.10. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Tuesday 20.10. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Thursday 22.10. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Tuesday 27.10. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Thursday 29.10. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Tuesday 03.11. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Thursday 05.11. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Tuesday 10.11. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Thursday 19.11. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Tuesday 24.11. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Thursday 26.11. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Tuesday 01.12. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Thursday 03.12. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Thursday 10.12. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Tuesday 15.12. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Tuesday 12.01. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Thursday 14.01. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Tuesday 19.01. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Thursday 21.01. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Tuesday 26.01. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Thursday 28.01. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Why do people vote? When can representatives exploit their power? Can elections discipline politicians? How can the media influence the political process? In this course we will try to answer such questions both theoretically and empirically.
We start by introducing the workhorse models that will help students conceptualize the political process. We will build on that to analyze citizens’ participation and voting decisions, the incentives and constraints of policymakers, and how conflicts over policy are resolved.
The empirical part of the course will focus on the rise of parties that escape the traditional, bipolar Social-Democrat/Christian-Democrat divide that has dominated European political throughout the second half of the 20th century, and polarization of US politics. The focus will be on the impact campaign strategies, the media, rising trade integration, and immigration on electoral outcomes.

Assessment and permitted materials

The evaluation of the course will be based on:
- 1 problem set counting for 20% of the grade;
- 4 paper summaries counting for 40% of the grade (10% each);
- 1 presentation counting for 40% of the grade.
Participation is not mandatory but is strongly recommended. There is no make-up exam.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Although the course is self-contained and concepts and methods are developed gradually, students should have a good background in microeconomics, empirical methods, and game theory.

Examination topics

Theoretical: Electoral Competition, Lobbying, Political Agency, Partisan Politicians
Empirical: Persuasion and mobilization, Media and fake news, Globalization, Immigration

Reading list

The presentation material is downloadable from the website of the course.
Throughout the theory course, we will follow:
- Persson, Torsten, and Guido Enrico Tabellini. Political economics: explaining economic policy (MIT press, 2002);
- Morton, Rebecca B. Analyzing elections (WW Norton, 2006);
- Anderson, Simon P., Joel Waldfogel, and David Stromberg. Handbook of Media Economics (Elsevier, 2015).
The reading list for the empirical part of the course is available on the Moodle page of the course.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Fr 12.05.2023 00:12