GV366     
Political Economy of the Developing World

This information is for the 2017/18 session.

Teacher responsible

Dr Steffen Hertog CON4.01

Availability

This course is available on the BSc in Government, BSc in Government and Economics, BSc in Government and History, BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, BSc in Politics and International Relations and BSc in Politics and Philosophy. This course is not available as an outside option nor to General Course students.

This course is capped at one group. Deadline for enrolments is 12:00 noon on Friday 29 September, 2017.

Pre-requisites

Students must have completed Introduction to Political Science (GV101).

Course content

This course introduces students to the broad theoretical traditions in the study of political economies outside of the OECD world, and provides an empirical overview of a number of concrete phenomena that shape the interplay of the political and economic realms in different world regions. It will address puzzles like: Why did some developing countries grow much faster than others after WWII? Are some forms of corruption more compatible with development than others? Which impact do natural resource rents have on politics and development? Under which conditions can countries with a short history of independent statehood build efficient institutions?

GV366 will engage with broad theoretical traditions like modernization theory, dependency theory, and neo-patrimonialism, and with concrete empirical topics like state-business relations, the developmental state, corruption and clientelism, the politics of public enterprise, and the political economy of resource-rich countries.

Teaching

10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the MT. 10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the LT. 1 hour of classes in the ST.

Formative coursework

One essay of 3,500 words to be submitted in the LT.

Indicative reading

Bardhan, Pradeep (1997). "Corruption and Development", Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 35.

Evans, Peter (1995). Embedded Autonomy: States and industrial transformation (Princeton: Princeton University Press).

Richards, Alan, and John Waterbury (2007). A Political Economy of the Middle East (Boulder: Westview Press).

Ross, Michael (2012). The Oil Curse: How Petroleum Wealth Shapes the Development of Nations (Princeton: Princeton University Press)

Schneider, Ben Ross, and Sylvia Maxfield (eds.) 1997. State-Business Relations in Developing Countries (Ithaca: Cornell University Press).

Wade, Robert (2003). Governing the Market: Economic Theory and the Role of Government in East Asian Industrialization (Princeton: Princeton University Press).

Waterbury, John (1993). Exposed to Innumerable Delusions: Public Enterprise and State Power in Egypt, India, Mexico, and Turkey (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

Assessment

Exam (50%, duration: 2 hours) in the main exam period.
Essay (50%, 3500 words) in the ST.

Student performance results

(2014/15, 2016/17 combined)

Classification % of students
First 6.1
2:1 81.8
2:2 12.1
Third 0
Fail 0

Key facts

Department: Government

Total students 2016/17: 16

Average class size 2016/17: 17

Capped 2016/17: Yes (17)

Value: One Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

Course survey results

(2014/15, 2016/17 combined)

1 = "best" score, 5 = "worst" score

The scores below are average responses.

Response rate: 47%

Question

Average
response

Reading list (Q2.1)

1.9

Materials (Q2.3)

1.6

Course satisfied (Q2.4)

1.9

Lectures (Q2.5)

1.5

Integration (Q2.6)

1.4

Contact (Q2.7)

1.8

Feedback (Q2.8)

2.2

Recommend (Q2.9)

Yes

67%

Maybe

33%

No

0%