Course Overview

Welcome to EarthTab Business School. My name is Blessings Chirwa and i will be your course preceptor for the course Political Economy. The course "Political Economy" is an interdisciplinary, intellectually rigorous exploration of the symbiotic relationship between political systems and economic structures, examining how politics influences economic outcomes and how economic forces, in turn, shape political dynamics. It serves as a bridge between political science, economics, history, public policy, international relations, development studies, sociology, and institutional theory. The course is designed for you seeking a holistic understanding of the frameworks, ideologies, and real-world forces that govern the formulation, distribution, and contestation of resources, authority, and power across societies and nations.

Deeper Philosophical and Epistemological Foundations

This course begins by interrogating the ontological and epistemological assumptions that underpin the study of political economy. It examines how different schools of thought define "the state," "the market," "property," "capital," "labor," and "development," and how these definitions diverge across historical epochs and ideological traditions. The course challenges learners to consider questions like:

• What constitutes a just economic order?
  
  

• Who decides how resources are allocated, and in whose interest?
  
  

• How do institutional structures embed power relations, and how do ideologies justify them?

You will critically engage with positivist, constructivist, and critical realist approaches to political economy, fostering a deep appreciation for methodological pluralism and theoretical diversity.

Historical Evolution and Grand Theories

The course traces the historical genealogy of political economy from its roots in moral philosophy, natural law, and Enlightenment thought, to its modern disciplinary fragmentation. You will analyze how early thinkers like Adam Smith, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill, and Thomas Malthus conceptualized the economy within a moral and political framework.

Contrastingly, the Marxist tradition will be deeply interrogated, particularly Karl Marx’s dialectical materialism, historical determinism, labor theory of value, and critique of capitalist accumulation. The Keynesian revolution, neoclassical synthesis, and the rise of neoliberalism post-1970s will also be explored to reveal the transformation of policy paradigms under different global conditions.

The course also situates classical theories within the broader intellectual wars that continue to shape economic governance today:

• State vs. market
  
  

• Redistribution vs. growth
  
  

• Regulation vs. liberalization
  
  

• National sovereignty vs. globalization

Structural and Institutional Dimensions

A major emphasis of the course is placed on how institutions, both formal and informal, govern economic behavior, mediate collective action, and regulate conflict. You will examine the political economy of laws, constitutions, public bureaucracies, central banks, regulatory agencies, international financial institutions, and transnational corporations.

Topics covered include:

• The design of political institutions and their economic effects
  
  

• The impact of electoral systems on fiscal policy
  
  

• The political economy of corruption, rent-seeking, and regulatory capture
  
  

• Institutional complementarities and path dependency

The course introduces the new institutional economics, public choice theory, and comparative political economy, helping you understand the role of rules, norms, incentives, and historical legacies in shaping outcomes.

Policy-Making, Governance, and Distributional Conflicts

A central focus of this course is on the politics of policy-making, particularly how public policies emerge, are contested, and are legitimized in democracies, autocracies, hybrid regimes, and failed states. You will dissect:

• Fiscal policy, taxation, public expenditure
  
  

• Monetary policy and the role of central banks
  
  

• Industrial policy, subsidies, protectionism
  
  

• Social safety nets and welfare states
  
  

• Infrastructure and human capital investment
  
  

• Regulatory frameworks and environmental economics

Here, the concept of distributional politics becomes vital. Political economy recognizes that every economic policy creates winners and losers. Thus, the course probes how class, race, gender, ethnicity, and geography intersect to influence policy preferences and institutional outcomes.

Global and Comparative Perspectives

This course has a significant international dimension, engaging you with the political economy of globalization and international economic governance. It addresses:

• Global trade regimes and the WTO
  
  

• International finance, capital flows, and the IMF
  
  

• Structural adjustment programs and debt crises
  
  

• Resource politics and the political economy of oil and gas
  
  

• Global inequality and North–South relations
  
  

• Global supply chains and the geopolitics of production

The rise of emerging economies, such as China, India, Brazil, and Nigeria, will be analyzed through the lens of developmental states, state capitalism, and authoritarian resilience.

Additionally, the course examines regional economic integration efforts like the EU, ECOWAS, ASEAN, and Mercosur to assess how supranational institutions shape domestic policy space and national sovereignty.

Crisis, Resistance, and Reform

You will explore major episodes of economic crisis, from the Great Depression to the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, from the Eurozone debt crisis to COVID-19’s fiscal shocks, examining their political origins, distributional consequences, and the ideological narratives they generate.

Key topics include:

• Austerity vs. stimulus debates
  
  

• Capitalist restructuring and labor market flexibilization
  
  

• The politics of bailout and moral hazard
  
  

• Emergence of populism and economic nationalism
  
  

• Social movements and anti-globalization protests

The course engages with radical critiques, such as post-colonial political economy, feminist political economy, ecological economics, and degrowth movements.

Tools of Political Economic Analysis

You will be equipped with essential analytical frameworks and empirical tools to evaluate political and economic outcomes. Topics include:

• Game theory and strategic interaction among stakeholders
  
  

• Cost-benefit analysis and its political limitations
  
  

• Political mapping of interest groups and coalitions
  
  

• Quantitative indicators (Gini, GDP, HDI, CPI, etc.)
  
  

• Use of political economy models (principal-agent, veto players, etc.)

They will apply these tools to design, critique, or simulate policy scenarios based on real-world data.

Pedagogical Approach and Delivery

The course is delivered using a combination of lectures, seminars, simulations, case studies, debates, policy memos, and research projects. You will be encouraged to engage in critical thinking, comparative analysis, and empirical investigation, while reflecting on their own positionality within global political economy.

A strong emphasis is placed on writing policy briefs, analyzing political-economic events, and linking theory to practice. Guest speakers, documentaries, and simulation games (e.g., trade negotiations, budget allocations, election modeling) will reinforce learning.

Learning Outcomes 

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

1. Theorize and deconstruct major schools of political economy across time and space.
   
   

2. Critically assess how political power and institutions shape economic outcomes.
   
   

3. Analyze global economic trends and policies through a political economy lens.
   
   

4. Examine the distributional effects of fiscal, monetary, and regulatory policy.
   
   

5. Engage in interdisciplinary research that blends political, economic, and historical analysis.
   
   

6. Evaluate the dynamics of global capitalism and the governance of global markets.
   
   

7. Articulate the ethical, environmental, and social dimensions of economic policy.
   
   

8. Apply conceptual tools to analyze case studies of reform, crisis, and resistance.
   
   

I look forward to congratulating you upon the completion of this course.