Dr Rafael Hortala-Vallve CON4.16

This course is compulsory on the 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) and MPA Dual Degree (LSE and Tokyo). 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 analyse important political phenomena including elections, legislative bargaining, lobbying, bureaucracy, civil conflict, and international relations. We focus on game theory as a way of understanding strategic interactions among political actors. Students will learn basic game theoretical concepts and apply them to a variety of political contexts; these tools should be useful both for explaining existing political outcomes and for designing interventions to achieve desired future outcomes.

22 hours of lectures and 15 hours of seminars in the MT. 22 hours of lectures and 15 hours of seminars in the LT. 2 hours of lectures in the ST.

Students will complete formative problem sets during the course.

Analysing Politics by Shepsle and Bonchek (W.W. Norton, 1997) 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) in the main exam period.
Essay (20%, 2000 words).
Other (20%) in the MT and LT.

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