This module aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the fundamentals of the economics of public choice, the work of democratic institutions in the policy process and the overall policy process with reference to national and supra-national policies. In doing so it examines the behaviour of participants in policy design (governments, bureaucrats, interest groups and voters) in developed and developing countries, and the ways in which policy decisions are made in the area of agriculture, rural development and international trade negotiations.

Topics
Introduction to economics of collective choice
Political economy and the origins of government
Voluntary solutions to market failure
Collective choice (1) - Normative approach
Collective choice (2) - Positive analysis of collective choice
The government and special interest groups
The political economy of bureaucracy
Empirical approaches in political economy modelling policy
Policy process in Europe: political economy of CAP Main institutions involved in the policy process; voting procedures
Policy process in other OECD countries: political economy of US agricultural policy and New Zealand policy reform
Political economy of international trade negotiations
Political economy approach to agricultural policy and market distortions in developing countries

80% Exam, 20% Coursework

• Downs, A, An Economic Theory of Political Action in a Democracy. Journal of Political Economy, 65, 135-150,1957 Niskanen, W, Bureaucracy: Servant or Master, London: Institute of Economic Affairs in London, 1973 Olson, M, The Rise and Decline of Nations, New Heaven and London: Yale University Press, 1982 Stevens, J, The Economies of Collective Choice, Boulder, San Francisco, Oxford: Westview Press, 1993 Plus guided reading from applied economics journals.

See the library reading list for this module

No information available

No pre-requisites