Political Economy
Political Economy is a field of true intellectual excitement at OSU. It explores two overlapping areas of inquiry: the interactions between the polity and the economy, and the use of the tools of neo-classical economics to explain how political and economic institutions produce social outcomes by constraining, reflecting, and shaping the behavior of self-interested individuals.
Faculty: S. M. Amadae, Sarah Brooks, Mary Cooper, Marcus Kurtz, William Minozzi, Irfan Nooruddin, Brian Pollins, Alexander Thompson, Daniel Verdier, Craig Volden, Alan Wiseman, and Jack Wright.
Two courses are required for the political economy minor and are offered every year:
- The Field of Political Economy
- Positive Political Economy/Mathematical Theories of Politics
Other elective courses that are taught regularly include:
- Modern World Economy
- Politics of the Developing World
- Theories of International Political Economy
- Comparative Political Economy
- Political Applications of Game Theory
- Research in Mathematical Political Science
There are also excellent political economy courses offered in the Departments of Economics and Agricultural Economics.
The Mershon Center has an active program in Political Economy including a regular series that brings in 8-10 outside speakers per year. The Mershon Center sponsors conferences on political economy as well. The Political Science Department also has a speaker series in formal theory.
There are two research workshops associated with the field of Political Economy. You may access the workshops here:
