Prof Simon Hix

This course is compulsory on the MPA in European Policy-Making, MPA in International Development, MPA in Public Policy and Management, MPA in Public and Economic Policy, MPA in Public and Social Policy, MPA in Social Impact and Master of Public Administration. This course is available on the MPA Dual Degree (LSE and Columbia), MPA Dual Degree (LSE and Hertie), MPA Dual Degree (LSE and NUS), MPA Dual Degree (LSE and Sciences Po), MPA Dual Degree (LSE and Tokyo) and MPhil/PhD in Accounting. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

In this course we develop tools to understand and analyse important political phenomena including political behaviour (such as voting behaviour, elections and lobbying), political institutions (such as electoral systems, parliamentary and presidential government and central banks) and political outcomes (such as economic policies, development aid and ethnic conflict).  The course combines a review of the main empirical regularities across time and across country in each of these areas, with an introduction to key theoretical arguments about how to understand how actors interact and how institutions shape strategic behaviour, and an introduction to the latest empirical (and causal) estimation techniques for testing the key theoretical ideas.

20 hours of lectures and 16 hours and 30 minutes of seminars in the MT. 20 hours of lectures and 16 hours and 30 minutes of seminars in the LT. 2 hours of lectures in the ST.

Formative work includes, for example, each term a two-page reading response and a problem set that reviews core concepts in empirical and theoretical models of political economy.

Analysing Politics by Shepsle and Bonchek (W.W. Norton, 2010, 2nd edition) provides an excellent starting point and can be used as the main reference for many topics. A full reading list will be distributed at the beginning of the course.

Exam (60%, duration: 3 hours, reading time: 15 minutes) in the summer exam period.
Essay (20%, 2000 words).
Other (20%) in the MT and LT.

The 20% 'other' assessment are application exercises carried out in groups.