Year 3 Dpe Module Outlines 23 24

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Year 3 DPE Module Outlines 23-24
The World Economy and its History (King's College London)
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Description
Please read the following information carefully when choosing and registering your modules.
Your total credits must reach 120 for the year. All optional modules in your third year should be at level 6.
Certain modules may not to be available to students from certain programmes. If a module is unavailable to your programme,
this is either because:
(a) There is signi cant content overlap with a compulsory module on your programme;
or
(b) There is programme-speci c prior learning necessary to succeed on the module and other students would therefore be at
a disadvantage.
If you do not meet the required pre-requisites, you are not eligible to take the module

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Table of contents
Semester 1
6SSPP314
6SSPP329
6SSPP330
6SSPP332
6SSPP333
6SSPP341
6SSPP348
6SSPP349
6SSPP355
6SSPP356
6SSPP358
6SSPP363
6SSPP365
6SSPP371
6SSPP378
6SSPP383
6SSPP386
6SSPP392
6SSPP401
Semester 2
6SSPP326
6SSPP342
6SSPP343
6SSPP353
6SSPP360
6SSPP362
6SSPP364
6SSPP369
6SSPP374
6SSPP375
6SSPP376
6SSPP377
6SSPP384
6SSPP385
6SSPP388
6SSPP391
6SSPP393
6SSPP396
6SSPP397
6SSPP400
6SSPP403
Full Year
6SSPP352

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Semester 1
The modules in this section run in Semester 1.

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6SSPP314
Eighteenth-Century Political Thought
Semester 1
Available to:
Political Economy
Politics
PPE
PPL
History & PE
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Paul Sagar
Pre-requisites: None. However, this is an advanced history of political thought module, so having previously
studied some history of political thought (especially 5SSPP202/5SSPP294) is a major advantage. Forbidden
Combination with 6AAOB302 European Political Thought.
Assessment: 2,000-word essay (40%) and 3,000-word essay (60%)
Teaching format: 2-hour seminar every week. Seminars will be run in a reading group format, based on selections
from primary-text material. There is no lecture for this course.
Overview
This is a specialist module where we focus on eighteenth-century debates about the nature of sociability, morality, and politics
through a close reading of three seminal authors: Bernard Mandeville, David Hume, and Adam Smith. Along the way we will
also consider the work of The Third Early of Shaftesbury and Sophie de Grouchy
This module will suit students who have studied and enjoyed the history of political and/or moral philosophy in the past. Not
heard of Mandeville before? Don’t worry. If you have studied debates on human nature and the origin of society in thinkers
such as Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, then this will give you some idea of what to expect. You probably will
have heard of David Hume and Adam Smith before, but note that we will be focusing on their moral and political philosophies,
far more than the political economy for which the latter is mostly famous.
There are no speci c prerequisites for this module, but students must be comfortable reading, probing, and analysing
complex works of moral and political philosophy in considerable detail. This module gives you the opportunity to concentrate
on speci c texts in much greater depth than you would usually do on other political theory modules. This will be particularly
valuable experience for anyone considering studying political theory or related disciplines at postgraduate level.
Provisional seminar programme
Week Topic
1. Mandeville on the Origins of Virtue and Honour
2. Mandeville on Self-love, Pride and Virtue
3. Mandeville’s Critique of Shaftesbury
4. Hume on the Foundations of Morality, Justice, and Government
5. Hume’s Political Essays
6. Reading week
7. Smith on Propriety and Sympathy
8. Smith and Grouchy on the Distinction of Ranks and Moral Corruption
9. Smith on Justice, the Impartial Spectator and Praiseworthiness
10. Smith on Utility, Custom, and the Character of Virtue
11. Smith and Grouchy on Slavery and Inequality
Primary texts
Sophie de Grouchy, Letters on Sympathy
David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature; Essays Moral, Political and Literary

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Bernard Mandeville, The Fable of the Bees, or Private Vices, Publick Bene ts, 2 vols.
Shaftesbury, Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times, 3 vols.
Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments

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6SSPP329
The Economics of Crime
Semester 1
Available to:
Political Economy
Politics
PPE
Economics
History & PE
PPL
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Anisa Butt
Pre-requisites: None
Assessment: 2-hour online exam (50%) & 1,800-word essay (50%)
Teaching format: 1-hour lectures & 1-hour seminar weekly
This course uses economics to understand crime. It examines when criminals choose to commit crimes, how they respond to
law enforcement, and how criminal markets are organised. The course will examine current and historical episodes of crime
around the world. Anja Shortland is an internationally renowned expert on piracy, kidnap for ransom and art crime.
The course will appeal to students who are interested in economics and enjoy the economic way of thinking. It is designed to
encourage students to apply the economic framework to unusual - but important - real world problems. The course does not
use highly formal models or advanced statistics, but largely relies on graphical analysis and analytic narratives. Seminars are
reading-intensive and discussion-based. Students who do not complete the readings each week will struggle to do well.
Preparatory reading:
Shortland 2019. Kidnap: Inside the Ransom Business; Oxford University Press (£18.99)
Levitt and Dubner. 2007. Freakonomics. Penguin. (£6.99)
The module will cover the following topics:
1) What can economics bring to the analysis of crime?
2) How do illicit markets work?
3) How do criminals communicate and organise?
4) Criminal law and policing from an e ciency perspective.
5) Private crime control
6) Does prison work?
7) Organised crime and ma as
8) Case study I: the market for hostages
9) Case study II: the art market

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10) Case study III: maritime security

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6SSPP330
Economic Policy-Making
Semester 1
Available to:
Political Economy
Politics
PPE
Economics
PPL
History & PE
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Julian Limberg
Assessment: 2-hour online timed exam (50%) & 2,500-word essay (50%)
Teaching format: 1-hour lecture & 1-hour seminar weekly
Overview
This module aims to provide an introduction to the theory and practices of economic policy-making. To understand economic
policy-making, we will take an economic as well as a political perspective. We will focus on the rationale behind economic
policies, and will seek to understand major changes in economic policy, and variation in policies across countries. We will also
look at individual preferences for these policies, and their implications for the policymaking process. In the process, we cover
areas such as economic liberalisation, nancial regulation, labour market policies, taxation and social insurance. The module
takes an empirical and comparative approach, and its focus is generic, though most of the literature is concerned with policy-
making in EU and OECD countries.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, you should be able to:
name the core actors that are involved in economic policy-making, and the di erent factors that play a role in the policy-
making process
identify and contrast the core features of the di erent types of explanations of change and variation in economic policy
apply the di erent types of explanations to cases of economic policy-making which have not yet been assessed in the
literature
critically evaluate the strength and weaknesses of the di erent types of explanations, particularly in relation to change and
variation in speci c policy areas
make reasoned arguments – both orally and in writing – on the reasons behind the introduction of economic policy,
variation in such policy, and policy change.
Key Readings
Peter A. Hall (1997). “The role of interests, institutions, and ideas in the comparative political economy of the industrialized
nations.” In Mark I. Lichbach and Alan S. Zuckerman (Eds.). Comparative Politics: Rationality, Culture and Structure (pp. 174–
207). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Beth A. Simmons, Frank Dobbin and Geo rey Garrett (2006). “Introduction: The international di usion of liberalism.”
International Organization 60(4): 781-810.
Peter A. Hall and David Soskice (2001). Varieties of capitalism: The institutional foundations of comparative advantage. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, Chapter 1.
Paul Pierson (1996). "The new politics of the welfare state." World Politics 48(2): 143-179.

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6SSPP332
Behavioural Political Economy
Semester 1
Available to:
Political Economy
Politics
PPE
Economics
History & PE
PPL
15 credits
Module convenor: Professor Shaun Hargreaves Heap
Pre-requisites: Forbidden combination with 6SSPP385 Experimental Economics
Assessment: 2-hour online timed exam (70%) & 1,000-word essay (30%) & seminar presentation (formative)
Overview
Experiments in economics have generated new insights into how people behave. Together with earlier psychological work,
they have spawned a new eld in economics: behavioural economics. This module is concerned with how the insights from
this new eld contribute to some key debates and issues in political economy. In particular, we will examine how the
experimental (and survey) evidence on behaviour contributes to the following questions.
Was Hobbes right when arguing that in a State of Nature life would be ‘poor, nasty, brutish and short’? (In other words, do
we always need a State to solve collective action problems?)
Does inequality harm cooperation and trust?
Was Rawls right when arguing that individuals would be guided by maxi-min from behind a veil of ignorance
Was Mill right to argue that freedom is essential to wellbeing?
Do markets discourage morality?
Do men and women behave di erently?
Do other-regarding motives depend on the existence of groups?

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6SSPP333
Development Economics
Semester 1
Available to:
Political Economy
PPE
Economics
History & PE
PPL
15 credits
Module convenor: Professor Amrita Dhillon
Pre-requisites: Microeconomics 5SSPP221 or 5SSPP217 or equivalent
Assessment: 3-hour online timed exam (100%)
Teaching format: 1-hour lecture and 1-hour seminar weekly
Aims and Objectives
The aims of this course are to:
To understand the use of formal microeconomic modelling in development.
To understand the links between formal models and empirics.
To gain knowledge of the seminal debates in development.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module, students should be able to:
Be able to provide succinct summaries of existing literature
Be able to establish a persuasive argument in favour of or against a suggested policy, using the tools of formal modelling.
Employability skills
Analytical thinking
Group work
Presentation skills
Knowledge of policy debates relevant for jobs in the development sector.
Lecture Schedule
Lecture 1: Overview, Leading development indicators, measuring GDP, relationships between per capita income and other
development indicators.
Lecture 2: Growth Theories (based on factor accumulation)
Lecture 3: Solow model with technical progress and the convergence debate.
Lecture 4: Institutions vs Geography to explain growth.
Lecture 5: Structural Change models: the Lewis model and the Harris Todaro model.
Lecture 6: Growth and inequality.
Lecture 7: Credit markets in developing countries:
Lecture 8: Micro nance: Theory and Practice.
Lecture 9-10: Behavioural Development Economics.

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6SSPP341
Global Power Europe
Semester 1
Available to:
Political Economy
Politics
PPE
PPL
History & PE
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Tomas Maltby
Pre-requisites: None, but students cannot also take 6AAOB308 The European Union In The International System
Assessment: 2-hour written exam (45%) & 2,750-word essay (45%) & participation (10%)
Overview
The module will provide students with a theoretically-grounded understanding of the role of the European Union as an
international actor. Using theories of international relations, European integration and Foreign Policy Analysis, it will analyse
and evaluate the EU’s evolving external identity and policy capabilities across a range of external relations, including
membership conditionality, trade and development, international crime and terrorism, asylum and immigration, foreign,
security and defence policy, climate and energy policy and democracy and human rights promotion. It will end by assessing
what sort of international actor the EU ‘is’ and ‘wants to be’ – namely civilian, normative or military – and evaluating the
likelihood of the EU emerging as a global superpower in the future.
Module Structure
Part one: Introduction and concepts
1. Introduction: EU integration and the EU as an International Actor
2. European integration theory
3. Institutions, the EU policy-making process & the Capability-Expectations Gap
Part two: EU policies
4. Policy 1: EU Membership and Neighbourhood Policy
5. Policy 2: The External Face of Internal Security, including migration
6. Policy 3: Common Security and Defence Policy
7. Policy 4: Trade and development
8. Policy 5: Democracy and Human Rights
9. Policy 6: Environmental policy, including Climate Policy
Part three: The EU’s identity and course conclusion
10. The Future of Europe: The Birth of a Superpower? Including summary and revision.
Key Readings
The following edited volume constitutes the textbook for the course and many essential readings are taken from it:
Hill, S. and Smith, C. (eds.) International Relations and the European Union (Oxford University Press, 2017), 3rd edition.
For those who haven’t studied the EU before, I recommend having a look at one or more of these introductory texts:
Bache, I., George S. and Bulmer, S. (2015) Politics in the European Union (Oxford University Press, 4th edition).
Cini, M. and Borragán, N. P-S, (2019) European Union Politics (Oxford University Press, 6th edition).
Wallace, H., Wallace W. and Pollack M. (2015) Policy-Making in the European Union (Oxford University Press, 7th edition).

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6SSPP348
Cosmopolitan Thought: 20th Century Global Political Thought
Semester 1
Available to:
Political Economy
Politics
PPE
History & PE
PPL
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Humeira Iqtidar
Assessment: 2,000-word essay (50%) & 2,000-word essay (50%)
Teaching format: 1-hour lecture and 1-hour seminar weekly
This module is designed for students who are interested in deepening their understanding of trends in political thought and
political theory from Asia, Africa and South America. The module brings together thinkers from di erent regions and engages
with cutting edge research on non-western political thought. From key trends in Islamic Political Thought to the many facets of
20th century anti-colonial thought, from the use of ethnography for reassessing categories to the in uence of post-colonial
political theory, the course is for nal year students focusing on political theory. A key intention is for students to read some
primary texts in detail.
However, please note that it is NOT a comparative politics course in the sense that we do not discuss questions of political
dynamics and comparison across di erent countries. Moreover, there is a strong expectation that students will engage in a
wide ranging and active discussion of the material selected. Students in the course will:
1. Develop a nuanced understanding of the implications of Eurcentricity of existing approaches to Political Theory and
Political Thought.
2. Develop an understanding of key trends in political theory and political thought from Asia, Africa and South America
3. Develop an understanding of trends across select religious traditions with a special focus on Islamic political thought.
4. Develop an understanding of new methodological options in political theory
Lecture Schedule
Why Comparative Political Theory?
Comparative Political Theory and Post-Colonial Theory
Methodological Innovations
Colonialism and Empire
Nationalism and Sovereigny
Race and Class
Revolution or Reform?
Justice
Indicative Readings

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Sanjay Seth, ‘Historical Sociology and Postcolonial Theory: Two Strategies for Challenging Eurocentrism’, International Political
Sociology 3:3 (2009), 334-8.
Godrej, Farah “Response to ‘What is Comparative Political Theory?’ The Review of Politics, 71 (2009), 567–582
Roxanne Euben, ‘Premodern, Antimodern or Postmodern? Islamic and Western critiques of Modernity’, The Review of Politics
49:3 (1997), 429-59

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6SSPP349
Empirical Political Economy
Semester 1
Available to:
Political Economy
Politics
PPE
PPL
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Gabriel Leon
Pre-requisites: Students must have taken 5SSPP213 (Econometrics) or 5SSPP241 (Statistics For Political Science II)
or 4SSMN902 (Statistics For Economists)
Assessment: 2-hour written exam (60%) & 2,000-word essay (40%)
This module covers the main empirical methods used for causal inference in economics, political economy, political science
and development: randomised controlled trials, natural experiments, instrumental variables and regression discontinuity
design. Students will learn how to use these methods to address important questions in the social sciences.
The emphasis is on applications and not on the derivation of estimators. This module follows the model of ‘learning by
example’, and so we study a large number of articles published in leading journals in economics and political science. We
consider the research question these articles address, how they address it, what data they use and the strength and
weaknesses of their approach.
Each seminar is organized around one research article that students are asked to read in advance. The seminar will revolve
around a critical discussion of this one article. By the end of the semester students will be able to read, understand and assess
recent research articles published in leading academic journals.
Students will be:
Introduced to four of the most widely used empirical methods in economics, political economy and political science.
Equipped with the skills to read and understand empirical papers in economics, political economy and political science.
Enabled to formulate their own empirical studies – including data collection, the empirical speci cation and its
implementation.
Guided in interpreting empirical results and how these results can inform existing theories in economics, political
economy and political science.
Lecture Schedule [indicative]
1. Introduction to the potential outcomes framework. Example: career choices
2. Introduction to randomised controlled trials. Example: women as policy markers
3. Problems with randomised controlled trials. Example: health insurance
4. Natural Experiments. Example: John Snow and cholera
5. Natural Experiments. Examples: impact of taxation, minimum wages, incidence of UK housing bene t
6. Natural experiments. Examples: Do leaders matter? Climate shocks and exports. Who pays the sales tax?
7. Review of instrumental variables. Examples: The impact of dams on development. Colonialism and income.
8. Instrumental variables. Examples: The long-run impact of the Vietnam war. Income and democracy.
9. Regression discontinuity design. Examples: Incumbency advantage in the US House of Representatives.

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10. Regression discontinuity design. Examples: Coercive labour market institutions.
Key Readings
Angrist, Joshua and Joern-Ste en Pischke, 2009. Mostly Harmless Econometrics, Princeton University Press.
Freedman, David, 2009. Statistical Models: Theory and Practice, published by Cambridge University Press.
Stock, James and Mark Watson, 2012. Introduction to Econometrics, Pearson Education.
Wooldridge, Je rey, 2003. Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach, South-Western College Publishing.

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6SSPP355
Ethics, Economics & Public Policy
Semester 1
Available to:
Political Economy
Politics
PPE
Economics
PPL
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Carmen Pavel & Dr Roberto Fumagalli
Pre-requisites:
1. KEY Concepts in PPE (5SSPP219) OR History of Western Political Thought (5SSPP202) OR Contemporary Issues
in Political Theory (5SSPP238).
(prerequisite in ethics / public policy)
AND
2. Microeconomics (5SSPP221) OR Macroeconomics (5SSPP220).
(prerequisite in economics)
Assessment: 2 X 2,000-word essay (each counting for 50% of the nal grade)
This course focuses on di erent areas of public policy to show that moral and economic theory plays a pivotal role in setting
goals for public policies and measuring their success. Moral theories inform people’s choices between alternative goals and
provide constraints for policy-makers. For example, programs for mandatory redistribution of organs may address organ
shortages, but violate individuals’ right to their own bodies. Economic theories model human behaviour and help us
understand human choice in the context of resource scarcity and incentives problems. How to increase tax compliance given
people’s cost-bene t calculations is one question economic theory can o er insights into. Most of the policy questions of our
time have economic, moral, and political dimensions we must understand in order to participate as informed voters or actors
involved in political decision-making. This module will apply insights and tools from ethical theory, economics, and political
science to policy-making and policy analysis.
Aims
Introduce students to questions and puzzles in di erent areas of policy making.
Draw on complex policy analysis tools such as cost-bene t analysis, randomized control trials, counterfactual policy
analysis.
Illustrate how moral values and principles operate as goals and constraints on public policy.
Explain the role of political actors and their incentives in shaping public policy.
During the course, students will be trained to: clearly articulate persuasive and well-structured arguments for or against a
given position; integrate complex bodies of information from di erent disciplines; adopt a self-directed and original
approach to the examination of recent public policy debates.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:

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Have a good command of the conceptual vocabulary of policy-making and policy-analysis.
Distinguish between ethical, economic, and political dimensions of public policy.
Be able to produce two independent analyses of public policies from a PPE perspective.
Successful students will: demonstrate accurate knowledge of foundational and methodological issues in cost-bene t
analysis and distributive justice; master central terminological and conceptual distinctions concerning notions such as
welfare, exploitation, equality, and justice; acquire a detailed understanding of contemporary public policy debates.
Lecture Structure
Week 1. Introduction. Exploitation.
Week 2. Environmental Policy. Cost-bene t analysis
Week 3. Science and Policy.
Week 4. Randomized control trials.
Week 5. Behavioural analysis: Nudging.
(Week 6: Reading Week)
Week 7. The ethics of markets.
Week 8. The ethics of resource redistribution.
Week 9. The ethics of incentives.
Week 10. The ethics of enhancement.
Week 11. The ethics of scarce resource allocation.

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6SSPP356
Authoritarianism
Semester 1
Available to:
Political Economy
Politics
PPE
PPL
History & PE
15 credits
Module convenor: Professor Sarah Birch
This module provides a comparative introduction to the topic of political authoritarianism. Authoritarianism, understood as
non-democratic governance, is one of the main scourges of modern politics. Though there was a wave of democratisation
following the collapse of the Soviet Union, authoritarianism has persisted in numerous guises, including the semi-
authoritarian regimes that have developed in many of the so-called 'democratising' states. In gaining an understanding of
contemporary authoritarianism, students will develop a more nuanced appreciation of the variety of di erent ways in which
power can be exercised. The module will be of interest to those whose primary focus is on comparative politics, political
economy, human rights, sociology and/or political history.
Aims
To understand the concept of authoritarianism and its principal sub-types
To analyse how authoritarianism research is conducted
To appreciate the factors that have contributed historically to the
contemporary distribution of authoritarianism around the world
To understand how the three main sub-types of authoritarianism function
To understand the common causes and consequences of authoritarianism
To examine critically common strategies employed in the aim of reducing
authoritarianism and promoting democracy
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able:
To demonstrate a command of the principal ndings of research in the eld of authoritarianism
To evaluate critically the design and implementation of authoritarianism research
To explore the determinants of authoritarianism in the contemporary world using relevant databases
To conduct rigorous analysis using relevant research sources
To advance reasoned and factually supported arguments in both written and oral formats
To identify and locate scholarly works and other resources relevant to the study of authoritarianism
Lecture Schedule

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Week 1: Introduction: Authoritarianism and democracy
Week 2: The development of authoritarianism in historical perspective
Week 3: Contemporary authoritarianism: distribution and trends
Week 4: Varieties of authoritarianism I: Single and dominant party systems
Week 5: Varieties of authoritarianism II: Military regimes
Week 6 Reading week
Week 7: Varieties of authoritarianism III: Personalistic and neo-patrimonial regimes
Week 8: Representative institutions and authoritarian systems
Week 9: The democratisation of authoritarian regimes
Week 10: The failure of democratisation in authoritarian regimes
Week 11: Aid, conditionality, intervention and international pressure on authoritarian regimes
Key Readings
Acemoglu, Daron and James A. Robinson, Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy, Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2006
Brooker, Paul, Non-Democratic Regimes: Theory, Government and Politics, 3rd ed., Macmillan, 2014
Brownlee, Jason, Authoritarianism in an Age of Democratization, Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2007
Jennifer Gandhi, Political Institutions under Dictatorships, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008
Levitsky, Steven and Lucan A. Way, Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes after the Cold War,
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Linz, Juan J., Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes, Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2000
Svolik, Milan W., The Politics of Authoritarian Rule, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012

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6SSPP358
Politics of International Trade
Semester 1
Available to:
Political Economy
Politics
PPE
History & PE
PPL
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr James Scott
Assessment: 1,500-word book review or similar written assignment (35%), 2,500-word essay (55%), Seminar
participation (10%)
Overview
Trade is an issue that has always sat at the heart of political economy. While Adam Smith famously made the case for free
trade, arguments in favour of an interventionist state that actively seeks to change areas of comparative advantage have
never gone away. Meanwhile, other critics have argued that the trade system is exploitative of the developing world and
deliberately structured in ways to preserve the dominance of Western, industrialised countries. This module engages with
these timeless debates. It also provides a detailed examination of the World Trade Organisation and the crisis that it has
experienced for the last decade. By completing this module, you will understand the contours of current tensions within the
trade system, the debates concerning the distributional impact of global trade and why trade has been such a controversial
topic since the creation of the discipline of political economy. The module draws from International Political Economy theory
in places.
Aims
This module aims to provide third year students with a detailed and advanced examination of the politics of international
trade. It will engage critically with the evolution of the global trade system post WWII, the institutions that have governed that
system, particularly the WTO and GATT, and the tensions that characterise this highly political process. Students may nd that
the theories of International Political Economy (IPE) / International Relations that they have learnt in other modules (notably
4SSPP106 World Politics, 5SSPP223 Issues in International Politics and 5SSPP237 An Introduction to International Politics, or
equivalents elsewhere) will be useful and complement the analysis within the module. However, this is not a pre-requisite and
it is possible to do well without such a background, though students should strongly consider reading a textbook on these
theories in advance.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module, students will be able to demonstrate the skills, knowledge, and methodological awareness
commensurate with expectations for level 6 module participation. In particular, they will develop:
An understanding of how the global trade system is understood through key theoretical traditions of IPE;
An understanding of the contemporary problems of the global trade system and why the WTO’s ability to function as a site
of trade negotiations is in crisis;
The ability to think critically about how trade is governed and in whose interests;
The ability to situate their own thoughts about how the trade system should function within established academic
literatures and analytical approaches;
An understanding of the impact that China and other so-called ‘rising powers’ are having on the global trade system.
Lecture Schedule – INDICATIVE ONLY. THINGS CHANGE.

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Lecture 1: Introduction
Lecture 2: Liberal Trade Theory, comparative advantage and the gains from trade
Lecture 3: Industrialisation and protectionism
Lecture 4: From GATT to WTO: The institutions of global trade governance
Lecture 5: Trade and agriculture
Lectures 6: Trade and Intellectual Property Rights
Lecture 7: Trade and gender inequality
Lecture 8: Global Value Chains
Lecture 9: Mega-regionals
Lecture 10: Dispute Settlement
Key Readings
George, Clive. (2010). The Truth About Trade. (Zed Books)
Wilkinson, Rorden. (2014). What's Wrong with the WTO and how to Fix it. John Wiley & Sons.
Chang, Ha-Joon. (2008). Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism.
(New York: Bloomsbury)
Amrita Narlikar, Martin Daunton, Robert M. Stern (2012). The Oxford handbook on the World Trade
Organization. (New York: Oxford University Press).
Sonia Rolland. (2012). Development at the World Trade Organisation. (Oxford: OUP)

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6SSPP363
Advanced Topics in Economic History
Semester 1
Available to:
Political Economy
PPE
Economics
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Gabriel Leon
Pre-requisites: Students must have taken Econometrics (5SSPP213) or 5SSPP241 (Statistics for Political Science II)
or 4SSMN902 (Statistics For Economists). It is highly recommended that students have also studied some game
theory, as covered in 5SSPP221 or 5SSPP217.
Assessment: 2,000-word essay (40%) & 2-hour written exam (60%)
This module is for students who are interested in economic history and wish to understand (i) the questions and debates that
motivate current research and (ii) the methods used to address these questions.
This module covers a number of key events or developments in the economic history of the world. Each week focuses on one
event (e.g. the Black Death) or one topic (e.g. trade). We learn about the historical context but also how the studies draw a
connection to existing work in economics, political economy, political science and development. We also consider the
challenges these studies face, including the unavailability of data. We discuss the most appropriate methods for the study of
each speci c research question (e.g. game theory, econometrics / statistics, a case study).
Each seminar is organized around one research article that students are asked to read in advance. The seminar will revolve
around a critical discussion of this one article. By the end of the semester students will be able to read, understand and assess
recent research articles published in leading academic journals.
The module will:
Discuss some of the most important events and episodes in economic history.
Use examples to introduce students to the methods most commonly used in the economic analysis of historical events.
Prepare students to read and understand recent research articles in economic history.
Enable students to formulate their own historical research.
Help students learn how the past can provide us with valuable lessons for the present.
By the end of the module the students will be able to:
Read and engage critically with recent articles and books in economic history (including those focusing on periods they are
unfamiliar with).
Formulate research questions in a way that allows for empirical analysis.
Conduct their own historical research, interpret the results, and draw lessons that are of value for today.
Lecture Schedule [indicative]
1. Property rights and trade: Medieval guilds, Atlantic trade
2. Knowledge, beliefs and technology: the printing press, the Protestant reformation, universities
3. The Black Death
4. Con ict and the origins of the state
5. Path Dependence
6. The Glorious Revolution and the French Revolution
7. The slave trade in Africa, colonial legacies

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8. The extension of the franchise
9. The Great Divergence between China and western Europe
10. The Second World War and social capital

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6SSPP365
Advanced Macroeconomics
Semester 1
Available to:
Political Economy
PPE
History & PE
KBS
15 credits
Module convenor: Professor Martin Weale
Pre-requisites: Mathematics For Economics 4SSMN901 5SSPP232 and Macroeconomics 5QQMN937 or 5SSMN931
or 5SSPP220
Assessment: 1 ½ -hour written exam (70%), 5-miinute video (30%)
Teaching format: 2 hour weekly lecture & 1-hour fortnightly seminar
The course aims to take students beyond the standard IS/LM approach to undergraduate economics. A key theme is the
importance of expectations. This is illustrated with reference to the exchange rate, wage and price behaviour, consumer
spending and the budget de cit. The course also focuses on some of the issues raised by the nancial crisis of 2008/9. In
particular it discusses the nancial accelerator and macroprudential regulation, unconventional monetary policy, the re-
emergence of in ation, and the weakness in productivity growth which has emerged since the crisis. The course is taught by
means of ten two-hour lectures and fortnightly seminars. The latter focus on problem-solving.
Educational Aims
To provide an economic analysis of modern macroeconomic modelling
To introduce students to some of the most important open questions in macroeconomics
This course will utilise and enhance skills that began to be developed in Intermediate Microeconomics, Macroeconomics
and Mathematics for Economists
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module:
Students will have a solid knowledge of the core subjects of macroeconomic theory.
Will have developed analytical skills, such as intertemporal maximization.
Will have a more thorough understanding of the policy issues facing advanced economies.
Topics Covered
1. Analysing the IS-MP-PC model
2. The Open Economy
3. Taylor principle, the zero lower bound and the liquidity trap
4. Consumption
5. Fiscal Policy
6. The Declining Real Rate of Interest

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7. In ation, In ation Expectations and Monetary Independence
8. The Financial Accelerator and Macroprudential Regulation
9. Monetary Policy and the In ation Surge
10. Growth and Productivity
Reading List
Core Texts:
Mankiw and Taylor Macroeconomics: European Edition. 2014 Edition. The 2007 edition can be used. Note that chapter 11 in
the second edition is chapter 10 in the rst edition.
Romp Game Theory
As appropriate for a third-year course, the main reading is provided by primary sources rather than text books and the course
is not suitable for students who do not feel comfortable with this method of teaching.

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6SSPP371
The Hayek Workshop
Semester 1
Available to:
Political Economy
Politics
PPE
PPL
History & PE
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Adam Tebble
Pre-requisites: 5SSPP202 or 5SSPP209 or 5SSPP238 or 5AANB007
In this module, students will engage in detail with the thought of Friedrich Hayek and the secondary source literature relevant
to it in a Workshop format. This will require close reading on their part of the key texts set out below in the Reading List. The
core text in this respect, and the text that will be most closely read over the duration of the Semester, will be his 3 volume
Law, Legislation and Liberty.
Aims
An advanced UG understanding of the thought of Hayek, including his epistemology, economics and political and legal
theory.
The ability to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the ideas and arguments under consideration
The ability to convert these assessments into well-structured essays
The ability to recommend improvements to the texts ideas and arguments.
Learning Outcomes
To understand the philosophical underpinnings to Hayek’s contributions to debates in economics, politics and law
To critically assess, at length and in essay format, the strengths and weaknesses of his contributions to these debates
Key Reading
In this module, students will engage in detail with the thought of Friedrich Hayek and the secondary source literature relevant
to it in a Workshop format. This will require close reading of the principal text for the module, his 3 volume Law, Legislation
and Liberty.

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6SSPP378
American Foreign Policy
Semester 1
Available to:
Political Economy
Politics
PPE
History & PE
PPL
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Keith Smith
Assessment: 2,500-word essay (50%) & 2-hour exam (50%)
Overview
The United States is arguably the most powerful nation in the international system. It is the only state with a truly global reach
and continues to play a pivotal role in global governance. In traditional metrics (i.e., hard and soft power), the United States
remains a global hegemon. The actions the United States takes and how it relates to other actors in world politics should
therefore be of great interest to students of international politics. Therefore, this module provides a contemporary analysis of
United States foreign policy.
The module begins with a brief historical overview, sketching out America’s rise to a global power and considering the major
schools of thought–or traditions–that have in uenced American foreign policy, before outlining the major explanatory
frameworks utilised in studies of United States foreign policy. Subsequently, the module explores contemporary strategic
debates; considers the main points of divergence and convergence between di erent presidential administrations; and
explores some of the main instruments (and their e ectiveness) of foreign policy and grand strategy. In the nal two weeks,
students are invited to begin applying these theories and concepts in order to evaluate American foreign policy in speci c
regional settings.
By the end of this module, students will have acquired a theoretical and historical grounding in US foreign policy. They will be
able to apply theory and concepts to contemporary foreign a airs issues and critically evaluate America’s actions abroad. The
module should be of interest to students interested in international politics, foreign policy analysis, strategic studies and the
United States.
Aims
The aims of this course are:
to acquaint students with the origins and contemporary development of US foreign policy;
to explore critically the main theoretical and conceptual approaches to United States foreign policy;
to analyse and evaluate contemporary strategic and policy debates with regards to United States foreign policy;
to familiarise students with the points of convergence and divergence between di erent policymaking administrations;
to overview the major instruments of foreign policy, their applications and their consequences;
to work collaboratively in the research and presentation of a group-based project.
Learning Outcome
By the end of this module, students should be able:
to demonstrate a systematic understanding of United States foreign policy, both historical and contemporary, in order to
consider its development over time;

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to identify, apply and assess critically the main theoretical and conceptual approaches to United States foreign policy,
assessing the relative importance of the external and domestic sources of foreign policy;
to locate the main strategic debates, to evaluate their propositions and to consider their potential consequences;
to demonstrate a critical appreciation for the major actors involved in the foreign policymaking process
to show an appreciation of the range of policy instruments, and to consider their relative utility;
to evaluate foreign policies in accordance with the theoretical and conceptual literature.
Key Reading
There is not one set book for this module but those listed below are extremely useful for background knowledge, especially
the Cox and Stokes textbook.
Brooks, S. and Wohlforth, W. (2016) America Abroad: The United States’ Global Role in the 21st Century (Oxford: OUP)
Cox, M. and Stokes, D. (eds.) (2012) US Foreign Policy (Oxford: OUP)
Dueck, C. (2015) The Obama Doctrine: American Grand Strategy Today (Oxford: OUP)
Dumbrell, J. (2009) Clinton’s Foreign Policy: Between the Bushes (London: Routledge)
Haass, R. (2017) A World in Disarray (London: Penguin)
McCormick, J. (ed.) (2015) The Domestic Sources of US Foreign Policy (Lanham: Rowman & Little eld)
Moens, A. (2016) The Foreign Policy of George W. Bush (London: Routledge)
Parmar, I. et al (eds.) (2009) New Directions in US Foreign Policy (London: Routledge)
Witkopf, E. et al (eds.) (2007) American Foreign Policy: Patterns and Processes (Belmont: Thomson).
Useful journals include (disclaimer: many are written for a speci c political audience):
International Security, Foreign A airs, Foreign Policy, Foreign Policy Analysis, The American Interest, American Diplomacy, The
Atlantic, The National Interest, World A airs, International A airs, The Political Science Quarterly
Indicative Lecture Schedule
Week Topic/reading
Week 00 (w/c 13th September)
No reading. Introductory pre-recorded lecture.
GRAND STRATEGY
Week 01 (w/c 27th September
Bomberg, “The environmental legacy of President Trump”

FOREIGN POLICY BEGINS AT
HOME
Week 02 (w/c 4th October) Trump & the blob (Norlo , “Hegemony and inequality”
THE BLOB Porter, “Why America’s grand strategy has not changed”)
Obama & private actors (Leogrande, “Normalizing US-Cuba relations”
Week 03 (w/c 11th October)
Parmar, “The big 3 foundations and American global power”
INTEREST GROUPS AND
Van Apeldoorn and De Gra , “Corporate elite networks and US post-Cold War grand
STRATEGIC CHANGE
strategy from Clinton to Obama”)
Week 04 (w/c 18th October) Bush & the legislature (Marsh, “The intersection of war and politics”
THE POLITICS OF TROOP SURGES McHale, “A tale of two surges”)

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Week 05 (w/c 25th October)

Clinton/Bush & public opinion (Baum, “How public opinion constrains the use of force”
INTERVENTIONS IN SOMALIA AND

Rice, Tough Love, select chap.
RWANDA
Week 06 (w/c 1st November) READING WEEK
Week 07 (w/c 8th November)
Reading to be con rmed
RUSSIA AND UKRAINE
Week 08 (w/c 15th November) Alliance politics (Risse-Kappan, Cooperation amongst democracies, select chapter
EUROPE AND ALLIANCE POLITICS Potheir, “Joe Biden’s post-Transatlantic moment”
Week 09 (w/c 22nd November)
Lobbying (Khatib, “Arab Gulf lobbying in the United States”; Bard, “The Arab Lobby”;
THE MIDDLE EAST AND

Mearsheimer and Walt, “The Israel Lobby and US foreign policy”
LOBBYING
Week 10 (w/c 29th November)

Activism (Tate, Drugs, thugs and diplomats, select chapter
LATIN AMERICA AND THE WAR ON

Mendez, Colombian agency and the making of US foreign policy)
DRUGS
Week 11 (w/c 6th December)

Entrapment (Yeh, “Diversionary behaviour for weak states: a case study of Taiwan”;
Xiying, “Unbalanced deterrence: coercive threat, reassurance and the US-China rivalry
THE TAIWAN STRAIT AND THE
in Taiwan strait”
POLITICS OF COMMITMENTS
Week 12 (w/c 13th December) REVISION WEEK

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6SSPP383
Advanced Economics of Politics
Semester 1
Available to:
Political Economy
PPE
Politics
History & PE
PPL
Economics
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Konstantinos Matakos
Assessment: online take home exam (70%), 4x problem sets (20%) & participation (10%)
This course examines public policy formation, political processes and political institutions from
a rational choice (RC) perspective. A one semester course cannot o er a comprehensive
treatment of the complex working of political systems. The emphasis is on introducing some
key formal models to simplify and analyse broad classes of situations. Students are not only
expected to be familiar with these models but also to be able to use them to solve problems of
a technical nature. At the same time, empirical testing of formal models will be part of our
approach to political economy. We will focus on the rational choice literature on collective
action, voting, elections, interest groups, legislative organization and bargaining, political
agency and bureaucracies, electoral institutions and their e ect on political competition.

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6SSPP386
Statistics for Political Science II
Semester 1
Available to:
Political Economy
Politics
PPE
History & PE
PPL
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Raluca Pahontu
Assessment: 2,000-word research paper draft (40%) & 2,000 word research paper with 250-word response to
feedback (60%)
This 3rd year UG module is designed to provide students with particular analytical tools to better understand the problems
and questions studied in political science. The main goal is to train students in the use of regression analysis, the dominant
quantitative technique used in political science. Students will learn how to conduct quantitative research using regression
analysis. The module combines theoretical lectures with practical sessions in the pc-lab where students will enhance their
existing knowledge of Stata.
This module assumes some previous basic knowledge of regression analysis, inferential statistics and some basic school
algebra like derivation. The module, however, is not designed to learn the mathematical apparatus behind regression analysis.
Rather, the emphasis will be on understanding the logic and intuition behind regression. In this regard, the module is highly
dependent on particular examples from political science.

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6SSPP392
The Political E ects of Climate Change
Semester 1
Available to:
Political Economy
Politics
PPE
History & PE
PPL
15 credits
Module convenor: Professor Sarah Birch
This comparative module will examine the political e ects of climate change from conceptual and empirical perspectives.
Climate change is shaping many social, economic and political processes in the world today. Yet the impact that climate
change has on political behaviour and political processes varies widely from context to context. This model will trace the
variety of di erent ways in which climate change a ects political behaviour and seek to identify common patterns. The
module will be of interest to those whose primary focus is on comparative politics, political behaviour, political economy
and/or political history. It is designed to complement environmental politics modules that have a policy focus.

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6SSPP401
The Political Economy of Risk
Semester 1
Available to:
Political Economy
PPE
Politics
History & PE
PPL
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Raluca Pahontu
Assessment: 1,500-word essay (50%) & 1.5-hour written exam (50%)
Arti cial intelligence, technological change, pandemics and economic crises pose important challenges to individuals by
exposing them to potentially harmful, unfortunate or undesirable situations. Risk, understood as such, is one of the key
drivers of political and economic behaviour. Though countries have over time developed safety nets for individuals, such as
through welfare states, a growing number of individuals are not only exposed to new types of shocks but also become less
likely to be protected by existing policies. In gaining an understanding of the types and sources of risk emergent in recent
years, students also develop a nuanced appreciation of the variety of ways in which individuals can protect themselves again
these risks, and the trade-o s they make in the process. Since studying risk is interdisciplinary in nature, the module draws on
work in political science, economics, sociology, and economic history.
Furthermore, most of the empirical literature on the political economy of risk uses statistical techniques. Therefore, this
course o ers students familiar with statistical and econometrics methods an opportunity to learn applications of those
techniques in the study of risk.
Module Aims
This module aims to:
To understand the concept of risk and its types;
To analyse how research on risk is conducted;
To appreciate the factors that contribute to variation in risk between individuals and over time;
To understand the causes and consequences of risk for political and economic behaviour;
To examine common strategies across countries and over time in mitigating risk and providing protection to individuals.

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Semester 2
The modules in this section run in Semester 2.

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6SSPP326
Culture, Identity & Justice
Semester 2
Available to:
Political Economy
Politics
PPE
PPL
History & PE
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Adam Tebble
Pre-requisites: 5SSPP202 or 5SSPP209 or 5SSPP238 or 5AANB007 or 6SSPP371
Assessment: 2-hour online examination (50%) & 2,000-word essay (50%)
This module in contemporary normative political theory is designed to provide students with an advanced undergraduate
knowledge of some of the key contributions, from a broad range of thinkers and of schools of thought, to debates in the
politics of culture and identity. It will be arranged around the theme of how the state should respond, if at all, to cultural
diversity. Speci cally, the educational aims are:
Provide students with a sound knowledge of the ideas of key contributors to the question of justice and cultural diversity,
such as Rawls, Young, Miller, Scruton, Kymlicka, Barry, and Tebble.
Enable students to place the contributions and underlying assumptions of these thinkers within the broader context of the
challenge of articulating and justifying institutions of justice in culturally diverse societies.
Provide students with the skills required for advanced undergraduate engagement with and critical analysis of original
works in contemporary normative political theory.
By the end of this module students will be able to:
Demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the ideas of the key contemporary thinkers in debate about justice and identity.
Show an understanding of the underlying presuppositions and assumptions informing philosophical debate about justice
and identity and about the relationship between the individual and the state and between cultural and other identity-
based groups and the state.
Demonstrate an ability to critically analyse and evaluate key primary and secondary source texts in contemporary
normative political theory
Additional Information
Please be aware that the teaching for this module will not be available on Lecture Capture so it is imperative that students
attend all classes.

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Key Readings
Brian Barry, Culture and Equality
Will Kymlicka, Multicultural Citizenship
David Miller, On Nationality
John Rawls, A Theory of Justice
Roger Scruton, 'In Defence of the Nation', 'The First Person Plural'
Iris Marion Young, Justice and the Politics of Di erence
Adam James Tebble, Epistemic liberalism: a defence

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6SSPP342
International Institutions & Global Governance
Semester 2
Available to:
Political Economy
Politics
PPE
History & PE
PPL
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr James Scott
Assessment: Seminar participation (10%), 2-hour in-person exam (45%) & 2,350-word essay (45%)
Overview
This module aims to provide an advanced introduction to global governance and the key international institutions that form
the basis of global governance. It will give a detailed knowledge of the institutional landscape through which international
political and economic interaction is mediated. The analysis is grounded in the theories of International Political Economy (IPE)
/ International Relations (which you are expected to be familiar with – if you have not covered these elsewhere you will need
to catch up in advance).
Aims
The speci c aims of the module are to:
• Build upon the IPE theory undertaken in other modules (e.g. Issues in International Politics; World Politics etc);
• Provide an understanding of the ways in which these theoretical traditions analyse the nature of global governance;
• Explore the range of actors that are engaged in global governance;
• Provide an historical background to the evolution of global governance;
• Engage critically with the manner in which global politics and economic issues are governed within the state system; and
• Understand contemporary challenges to existing governance structures brought about by the ‘rising powers’, particularly
China.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this course students will have:
a sound understanding of the theoretical concepts related to the study of global governance;
a detailed and in-depth knowledge of formative periods in the development of international political and economic
governance;
an ability to analyse current issues in global governance in a theoretically informed and critical manner.
Indicative Lecture Schedule (which may be subject to change)
1. Theoretical approaches to global governance
2. The Origins of International Organisations: From the League of Nations to the UN
3. UN Security Council Reform
4. The UN and the use of Private Military Contractors
5. The governance of plastic pollution

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6. The International Labour Organisation and the governance of labour
7. The International Criminal Court
8. Global Health Governance
9. Outer Space Governance
10. The IMF and global economic governance.
Key Readings
Thomas Weiss and Rorden Wilkinson (eds.) (2013) International Organization and Global Governance (Abingdon:
Routledge).
Harman, Sophie, and David Williams. (2013). Governing the World?: Cases in Global Governance. (Abingdon and New York:
Routledge).
Anthony Payne and Nicola Phillips, (2014), Handbook of the International Political Economy of Governance, (Edward Elgar)

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6SSPP343
Topics in Advanced Microeconomics
Semester 2
Available to:
Political Economy
PPE
History & PE
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Alberto Vesperoni
Assessment: take-home exam (20%) & 3-hour written exam (80%)
This module explores the contributions made by economic theory to several important economic problems. Although there
are no formal prerequisites, the module is quite technical and students with weak quantitative background should be willing
to catch up with constrained optimization (e.g., Lagrange & Kuhn-Tucker methods) and intermediate microeconomics (e.g.,
competitive markets vs monopolies). While the list of topics is generally quite exible, the underlying theme will be the use of
game theoretic modelling and the use of mathematical modelling and equilibrium concepts developed in economic theory.
This year the main topics will be on Information Economics: how the fact that di erent agents have access to di erent
information can a ect their behaviour in markets. Thus, rms do not know the ability of applicants while the applicants do,
the owners of used cars have much more information on the cars than the buyers and so on. The topics covered will be under
the broad headings of:
Static bilateral contracting: problems of hidden information: (a) screening, (b) signalling.
Static bilateral contracting: problems of hidden action: moral hazard.
Applications: insurance markets, used car market.
Empirical evidence.

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6SSPP353
Politics and Justice in International Law
Semester 2
Available to:
Political Economy
Politics
PPE
History & PE
PPL
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Carmen Pavel
Assessment: one take home midterm exam (50%), one 2,000-word essay (50%)
The module is structured around a series of questions about the nature, sources, justi cation, and e ects of international law.
Should the di erent countries obey international law? Is international law really ‘law?’ It is just? Who should enforce it? It will
use international law cases to explore advanced philosophical and empirical questions about the character of international
law. The module aims to equip students with an understanding of di erent perspectives on the value and purposes of
international law, the ability to explore the assumptions and implications of each perspective, and to assess the way in which
they inform debates about actual legal institutions and rules.
By the end of the semester, the course will help you advance several general and topic-related skills. On the topical skill side,
you will understand and be able to describe at least two di erent perspectives on the value and purposes of international law.
An important skill is to explore the assumptions and implications of each perspective and the way in which they inform
debates about actual legal institutions and rules. On the general skill side, the goal is to help you extract value from the
material by developing the language and conceptual machinery necessary to discuss the theoretical and practical issues that
arise in international law. You will do so by engaging, understanding, interpreting, critically evaluating, and comparing the
arguments presented. As writers, you will work on formulating and developing an e ective argument on a normative topic,
and you will practice the elements of writing a successful paper.
Textbook
Je rey Duno , Steven R. Ratner, David Wippman, International Law: Norms, Actors, Process: A Problem-Oriented Approach
(Aspen Casebook) 4th Edition.
List of Topics Covered
PART I. The Politics of International Law
Week 1. The History of International Law.
Week 2. Skepticism of International Law. Dualism.

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Week 3. Responding to the First Global Commons Issue: The Law of the Sea.
Week 4. International Economic Law.
Week 5. Unresolved Problems in the Global Commons: International Environmental Law.
Week 6. Reading week
PART II. Justice in International Law
Week 7. Compliance with International Law.
Week 8. International Criminal Law.
Week 9. Human Rights I. Universality and Relativism
Week 10. Human Rights II. Refugee Rights.
Week 11. Human Rights III. Humanitarian Intervention.

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6SSPP360
Elections and Voting Behaviour
Semester 2
Available to:
Political Economy
Politics
PPE
Economics
PPL
History & PE
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Damien Bol
Assessment: unseen written exam (50%), 2,000-word essay (50%)
Overview
The module examines in detail the act of voting in contemporary democracies (mostly, Western democracies mostly, but also
non-Western democracies). The topics covered include how voters form preferences for parties/candidates, how they
translate these preferences into a vote (or an abstention), and how they react to electoral campaigns and the state of the
economy. It also covers how parties decide upon their electoral program, and how this a ects their electoral performance.
The module focuses on the scienti c study of elections. The lectures present the scienti c theories developed to make sense
out of elections. It goes beyond mere journalistic takes. Seminars are even more “science-sy”, as students are expected to
critically analyze scienti c papers examining elections. They go in the details of the paper covering methodological issues such
as data, measures, and research designs. There is no pre-req for this module, but students are expected to know basics of
quantitative methods (or statistics) or be willing to learn them as these will be required to analyze the scienti c papers
covered in class.
By the end of the module students will be able to:
Actively read, fully understand, and critically appraise the scienti c literature on elections.
Mobilize and articulate this scienti c literature on elections to form an informed judgement about the state of elections in
contemporary democracies and analyze new elections.
Independently catch up with the latest developments of the scienti c literature about elections.

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6SSPP362
International Trade
Available to:
Political Economy
PPE
Economics
History & PE
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Pierre-Louis Vézina
Pre-requisites: Students must have taken Microeconomics 5SSPP221 or 5SSPP217 or equivalent. Forbidden
combination with International Trade 5SSMN936
Assessment: 2-hour written exam (90%) & participation (10%)
Educational Aims
This module provides an introduction to models of international trade and their predictions of trade patterns, with some
consideration of empirical studies and policy issues. The goals of this module are to:
Introduce students to classical and new theories of international trade
Use examples and empirical evidence to introduce students to the methods most commonly used in the economic
analysis of international trade.
Enable students to engage with trade theory in a critical manner, understanding the arguments used both in favour and
against trade liberalisation.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module the students will be able to:
demonstrate general knowledge and understanding of international trade theory and policy
understand and manipulate simple economic models, both graphically and analytically
read and engage critically with the empirical literature on international trade
Key Reading
All compulsory readings are chapters from: International Economics, Theory and Policy, Paul Krugman, Maurice Obstfeld, Marc
J. Melitz., 9th or 10th Edition, Pearson.
Lecture Schedule
Week 1. An overview of world trade, gravity, and borders: Chap 2
Week 2. Ricardian model of comparative advantage: Chap 3
Week 3. The speci c factors model: Chap 4
Week 4. The Heckscher-Ohlin model: Chap 5
Week 5. Economies of scale and trade: Chap 7
Week 6. Monopolistic competition and trade: Chap 8
Week 7. Firms in the Global Economy: Chap 8
Week 8. Trade policy: Chap 9
Week 9. The political economy of trade policy: Chap 10
Week 10. Trade policy in developing countries: Chap 11

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6SSPP364
Key Issues in Policy Making
Semester 2
Available to:
Political Economy
Politics
PPE
History & PE
PPL
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Christel Koop
Pre-requisites: Comparing Political Systems 4SSPP103 or equivalent
Assessment: 3,000-word group-written policy report (20%) & 3,000-word individually written policy report (80%).
Teaching format: weekly 2-hour lecture-seminar sessions.
Educational Aims
This module aims to provide an advanced understanding of the policy making process by addressing key issues in policy
making. We focus on two types of issues in policy making: (i) how best to design the policy making process, and (ii) what (if any)
policy tools to use when facing particular societal problems. We take an empirical perspective, analysing some of the key
questions and dilemmas that politicians and civil servants face today. Each week, we focus on one particular problem in policy
making, and analyse the di erent options that are available. In the process, we also take into account (political and other)
constraints. The focus of the module is generic, though the literature is mainly concerned with policy making in the UK and
other OECD countries. The module is particularly suitable for students who have an interest in policy making and developing
their policy skills, and/or want to pursue a career that involved policy making (e.g., in the civil service).
Learning Outcomes
Students who have completed this module should be able to:
identify and critically evaluate insights from the public policy literature, and apply the relevant insights to key issues in
policy making;
identify and contrast the policy options available, and identify the relevant constraints, when facing key problems in policy
making;
critically evaluate the di erent options available, given also the relevant constraints;
draw reasoned conclusions on which policy option is to be used to address a particular problem in policy making.
Indicative weekly topics
Part I – The design of the policy process
Examples of issues addressed:
(How) should we aim for a representative bureaucracy?
How can we avoid ‘regulatory capture’ by business interests?
Should we create an independent agency to set tax policy?
Part II – Choosing policy tools for societal problems
Examples of issues addressed:
(How) should we tackle air pollution?
(How) should we introduce a universal basic income?

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(How) should we address the dominance of ‘big tech’ companies?
Indicative reading list
Please note: The academic literature will be complemented by policy documents and other non-academic literature.
Acciai, Claudio & Giliberto Capano (2021). Policy instruments at work: A meta-analysis of their applications. Public
Administration 99 (1): 118–136.
Carpenter, Daniel (2010). Institutional strangulation: Bureaucratic politics and nancial reform in the Obama administration.
Perspectives on Politics 8 (3): 825–846.
Cashore, Benjamin (2002). Legitimacy and the privatization of environmental governance. Governance 15 (4): 503–529.
Cohen, Michael D., James G. March & Johan P. Olsen (1972). A garbage can model of organizational choice. Administrative
Science Quarterly 17 (1): 1–25.
Forrester, John (1984). Bounded rationality and the politics of muddling through. Public Administration Review 44 (1): 23–30.
Freiberg, Arie & W.G. Carson (2010). The limits to evidence-based policy: Evidence, emotion and criminal justice. Australian
Journal of Public Administration 69 (2): 152–164.
Hood, Christopher C. & Helen Z. Margetts (2007). The Tools of Government in a Digital Age. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Johnston, Karen (2019). Women in public policy and public administration? Public Money & Management 39 (3): 155–65.
Konisky, David M. (2007). Regulatory competition and environmental enforcement: Is there a race to the bottom? American
Journal of Political Science 51 (4): 853–872.
Lee, Eungkyoon (2010). Information disclosure and environmental regulation: Green lights and gray areas. Regulation &
Governance 4 (3): 303–328.
Lohmann, Susanne (1998). An information rationale for the power of special interests. American Political Science Review 92 (4):
809–827.
Lowi, Theodore J. (1972). Four systems of policy, politics, and choice. Public Administration Review 32 (4): 298–310.
Mettler, Suzanne (2011). The Submerged State: How Invisible Government Policies Undermine American Democracy. Chicago:
Chicago University Press.
Nutley, Sandra, Huw Davies & Isabel Walter (2002). Evidence based policy and practice: Cross sector lessons from the UK. ESRC
UK Centre for Evidence Based Policy and Practice, Working Paper 9.
Riccucci, Norma M. & Gregg G. Van Ryzin. 2017. Representative bureaucracy: A lever to enhance social equity, coproduction,
and democracy. Public Administration Review 77 (1): 21–30.
Thaler, Richard H. & Cass Sunstein (2008). Nudge: Improving Decisions on Health, Wealth, and Happiness. New Haven, CT: Yale
University Press.
Weible, Christopher & Paul Cairney (2018). Practical lessons from policy theories. Policy & Politics 46(2): 183–197.

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6SSPP369
Advanced Texts in Political Theory
Semester 2
Available to:
Political Economy
Politics
PPE
PPL
History & PE
15 credits
Module convenor:
Professor Robin Douglass
Pre-requisites:
None. However, this is an advanced political theory module, so having previously studied some political theory/philosophy is
an advantage.
Assessment:
4,000-word essay (100%). Students may also submit an optional formative essay, on which they will receive feedback before
submitting their summative essay.
Teaching format:
2-hour seminar each week. Seminars will be run in a reading group/workshop format, based on selections from primary-text
material.
Overview
This is an advanced specialist module focusing on theories of justice and injustice in contemporary political theory. Following
the publication of John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice in 1971, the dominant approach in Anglophone political philosophy has
involved theorising principles of justice for a well-ordered society. Critics of this approach, however, argue that focusing on
questions of justice under ideal conditions provides little guidance for making sense of, and thinking about how to respond to,
the many real-world injustices found in all existing societies.
This module investigates the relationship between ideas of justice and injustice through an in-depth study of some of the most
important texts on the subject from Rawls onwards. The two-hour seminar format (with no lectures) allows us to study the
texts in greater detail than is typical on other political theory modules. Some of the texts we will be studying address
questions of justice and injustice at a fairly abstract level (e.g. those by Rawls, Shklar, Hampshire), while others focus
speci cally on questions of epistemic injustice (Fricker), structural injustice (Young), and applied cases such as racial injustice
in American ghettos (Shelby).
While there are no speci c prerequisites, this module is designed for students who have already studied some political theory
(ideally in their second year) and enjoy reading, probing, and analysing complex philosophical texts in considerable detail.
Next year will be my rst time teaching the module in this format, so I have not yet planned a precise breakdown of the topics
by week. My provisional plan is to spend one or two weeks on each of the following thinkers: John Rawls, Judith N. Shklar,
Stuart Hampshire, Miranda Fricker, Iris Marion Young, and Tommie Shelby.
Indicative reading
John Rawls, A Theory of Justice
Judith N. Shklar, Legalism; The Faces of Injustice
Stuart Hampshire, Justice is Con ict
Miranda Fricker, Epistemic Injustice
Iris Marion Young, Responsibility for Justice

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Tommie Shelby, Dark Ghettos: Injustice, Dissent, and Reform

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6SSPP374
International Politics of the United Nations
Semester 2
Political Economy
PPE
Politics
History & PE
PPL
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Pam Shearing
Pre-requisites: It is bene cial (but not essential) to have studied some international relations before you take this
module
Teaching format: 1-hour lecture & 1-hour seminar each week
Overview
In this module students will explore the history, structure, and functions of the UN, developing an understanding of how
international politics has in uenced the operations of the UN over time, how the UN has itself in uenced the shape and
direction of international politics, and how the UN has contributed to the development and direction of international politics
and international justice.
The module provides an opportunity for students to become familiar with the positions of in uential world powers and their
relations and engagement with the practices and role of the UN, their policies, their observance of political and legal
principles, the con icts amongst them, and how some of these political disputes have unravelled.
Students will also gain an understanding of the unique position of the UN within international politics and its involvement in a
variety of critical issues throughout the UN’s history. The module will consider, for example: the promotion and protection of
human rights; peace and security; con ict resolution; the advancement of social and economic a airs; and the application and
enforcement of international law. In each topic students will be asked to consider speci c case studies to gain an
understanding of the key political dynamics within each and to assess the UN’s contribution and involvement in each such
case study.
The course will also provide an opportunity for students to learn about the challenges and opportunities that the UN faces in
contemporary international politics, to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the UN’s role and to critically analyse how the
UN can evolve and operate to ensure its continued relevance within contemporary international politics.
It will be bene cial (but not essential) to have studied some international relations before you take this module.
Educational aims
This course is designed to help students:
develop an understanding of the history, structure, and functions of the UN;
develop an awareness of the challenges and opportunities faced by the UN within contemporary international politics;
understand the political dynamics of world powers and their relationships with the UN, in theory and practice;
review historical and contemporary texts discussing the working and operations of the UN;
challenge the assumptions and positions adopted within the text(s) under consideration; and
analyse, assess, and make recommendations as regards the UN’s activities within international politics.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this module, students will be able to:

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demonstrate an understanding of how the UN works, including the in uence of international politics, in theory and in
practice;
evaluate the role of the UN in the practice of international politics;
assess the prospects and limits of the UN’s involvement in addressing current and future issues in international politics;
explain and critically assess the strengths and weaknesses of the UN and its internal organs in addressing substantive
issues such as the promotion and protection of human rights, peace and security, con ict resolution, social and economic
a airs, and the application and enforcement of international law; and
o er suggestions as to how the UN’s role within international politics can be improved.
Core Texts
Students are encouraged to purchase the following as a core textbook for the module. Copies are available in the KCL’s
Maugham Library. It is also acceptable to use / purchase alternative earlier editions.
Thomas G. Weiss and Sam Daws, The Oxford Handbook on the United Nations, New York: Oxford University Press (2020)
Throughout the course students are also encouraged to read news articles from the following websites to keep up to date on
recent developments within the UN.
O cial UN Website, www.un.org
UN News Centre, www.un.org/News/
Lecture Information and Reading List
Week 1: The Political History of the UN – The legacy of the League of Nations
Thomas G. Weiss, ‘The United Nations: before, during and after 1945’, International A airs, 91(6) (2015), pp.1221-1235.
UN, The Charter of the United Nations, http://www.un.org/en/charter-united-nations/
UN, The League of Nations, https://www.ungeneva.org/en/library-archives/league-of-nations
Case Study: From the League of Nations to the UN in the 21st century
Leland M. Goodrich, ‘From League of Nations to United Nations’, International Organization, 1 (Feb. 1947), pp.3-21.
Week 2: Equitable representation: The role of the UN General Assembly as a deliberating forum for international change
International Peace Institute, Small States, Boosted by International Law, Provide Necessary Voice on UN Security Council,
16 April 2019, https://www.ipinst.org/2019/04/small-states-international-law-and-un-security-council#1
Andrea Ó Súilleabháin, Small States at the United Nations: Diverse Perspectives, Shared Opportunities, International Peace
Institute, 1 May 2014,
https://www.ipinst.org/wp-content/uploads/publications/ipi_e_pub_small_states_at_un.pdf
Thomas G.Weiss, Sam Daws (eds), The Oxford Handbook on the United Nations, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020),
ch. 6.
Case Study: Small states at the UN
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Why Small Island States are vulnerable but not powerless, 27 September
2022, https://carnegieendowment.org/2022/09/27/why-small-island-states-are-vulnerable-but-not-powerless-pub-88015
International Centre for Defence and Security, ‘Small States, Di erent Approaches – Estonia and Norway on the UN
Security Council’, November 2021, https://icds.ee/wp-
content/uploads/2021/11/ICDS_EFPI_Report_Small_States_Di erent_Approaches_Haugevik_Kuusik_Raik_Schia_November_2021.pdf
UN, ‘Secretary-General’s remarks at Meeting of the Members of the Forum of Small States’, 17 March 2022,
https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2022-03-17/secretary-generals-remarks-meeting-of-the-members-of-the-
forum-of-small-states-delivered
Week 3: The UN Security Council - Political spheres of in uence and the veto
International Peace Institute, ‘A Year in the Life of an Elected Member: Lessons Learned on the Security Council’, 23 July
2020, https://www.ipinst.org/2020/07/a-year-in-the-life-of-an-elected-member-lessons-learned-on-the-security-council#6
Security Council Report, ‘Security Council Elections 2022’, https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/monthly-forecast/2022-
06/security-council-elections-2022.php

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Together First, 2020, Reforming the UN Security Council – A new report from Together First,
https://una.org.uk/sites/default/ les/0008499_TFR_UN_FINAL.pdf
Thomas G. Weiss, Sam Daws (eds), The Oxford Handbook on the United Nations, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020),
ch. 7.
Case Study: The power of the veto
UN, ‘Concluding Debate on Security Council Reform, Speakers in General Assembly Urge More Representation for
Developing Countries, Ending of Permanent Members’ Veto Power’, 18 November 2022,
https://press.un.org/en/2022/ga12473.doc.htm
Week 4: The UN Secretary General – A leader for 7 billion
Simon Chesterman, Secretary or General? The UN Secretary-General in World Politics, (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2007), Introduction.
Lucia Mouat, ‘The World’s Most Impossible Job’, in The United Nations’ Top Job – A Close Look at the Work of the Eight
Secretaries-General, (North Charleston: Library of Congress, 2014), ch. 2.
Ellen J. Ravndal, ‘A Guardian of the UN Charter: The UN Secretary-General at Seventy-Five’, Ethics & International A airs,
(2020), vol. 34(3), pp.297-304.
ch. 12.
Case Study: The UN Secretary General selection process
Ramesh Thakur, ‘Choosing the Ninth United Nations Secretary-General: Looking Back, Looking Ahead’, Global Governance
(2017), vol. 23, pp. 1-13.
1 for 7 Billion, Find the Best UN Leader, http://www.1for7billion.org/
UNA-UK, ‘UN Secretary-General selection process underway’, 12 January 2021, https://una.org.uk/news/un-secretary-
general-selection-process-underway?page=3
Week 5: Actors in International Politics - The UN’s engagement with non-state actors
UN, ‘The UN and Civil Society’, https://www.un.org/en/get-involved/un-and-civil-society
UN General Assembly, ‘Civil society space: engagement with international and regional organizations’, Report of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 20 April 2020,
https://undocs.org/A/HRC/44/25
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/CivicSpace/Pages/HCReport-Civil-Society-engagement-with-organizations.aspx
chs. 18 and 19.
Case Study: The UN Global Compact
Sustainable Development Goals Fund Report (published in conjunction with the Harvard Kennedy School and Business
Fights Poverty), Business and the United Nations: Working Together towards the Sustainable Development Goals: A
Framework for Action, 2015, https://www.sdgfund.org/business-and-un
United Nations Global Compact, https://www.unglobalcompact.org/
Week 6: Reading Week
Week 7: The Politics of International Law - The International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, and ad hoc
tribunals
Kirsten Ainley, ‘Retreat or retrenchment? An analysis of the International Criminal Court’s failure to prosecute presidents’
in Alison Brysk and Michael Stohl (eds), Contracting Human Rights: Crisis, Accountability and Opportunity, (London:
Edward Elgar, 2018).
Philippe Couvreur, ‘Upholding the Rule of Law at the International Level: The Role of the International Court of Justice’,
https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/upholding-rule-law-international-level-role-international-court-justice
The International Court of Justice, https://www.icj-ci.org/en

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The International Criminal Court, https://www.icc-cpi.int/
Case Study: The War in Ukraine
Situation in Ukraine, ICC-01/22, Investigation, https://www.icc-cpi.int/ukraine
ICJ, Allegations of Genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Ukraine v.
Russian Federation), Provisional Measures, 16 March 2022, https://www.icj-cij.org/public/ les/case-related/182/182-
20220316-PRE-01-00-EN.pdf
Cambridge University Press, ‘AJIL Speaks: The War in Ukraine and its implications for International law’,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZKvtqEK4hM
Week 8: The UN and Human Rights - The UN and the promotion of human rights, humanitarian action, and democracy
Gareth Evans, ‘The Consequences of Syria: Does the Responsibility to Protect have a Future?’, January 2014, https://www.e-
ir.info/2014/01/27/the-consequences-of-non-intervention-in-syria-does-the-responsibility-to-protect-have-a-future/
Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, ‘”If Not Now, When?”: The Responsibility to Protect, the Fate of the Rohingya
and the Future of Human Rights, 10 January 2019, https://www.globalr2p.org/publications/if-not-now-when-the-
responsibility-to-protect-the-fate-of-the-rohingya-and-the-future-of-human-rights/
ICISS, The Responsibility to Protect, Report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, 2001,
http://responsibilitytoprotect.org/ICISS%20Report.pdf
Case Study: The UN’s application of the Responsibility to Protect
Martn Mennecke and Ellen E.Stensrud, The Failure of the International Community to Apply R2P and Atrocity Prevention in
Myanmar’, Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect’, BRILL, 28 May 2021, https://brill.com/view/journals/gr2p/13/2-
3/article-p111_111.xml
Week 9: A United Vision for Peace? - The role of the UN in peacekeeping and peace building
Ronald Hatto, ‘From peacekeeping to peacebuilding: the evolution of the role of the United Nations in peace operations’,
International Review of the Red Cross, vol. 95 (2013), pp.495-515, www.icrc.org/en/download/ le/11085/irrc-891-892-
hatto.pdf
Kingsley Ighobor, ‘Mission accomplished: 15 years of peacekeeping success in Liberia’, Africa Renewal, April 2018-July 2018,
https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/april-2018-july-2018/mission-accomplished-15-years-peacekeeping-success-
liberia
UN Peacekeeping, https://peacekeeping.un.org/en
Case Study: Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo – why does peacekeeping succeed or fail?
Human Rights Watch, Côte d'Ivoire: UN Peacekeeping Mission Ends, 30 June 2017,
https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/06/30/cote-divoire-un-peacekeeping-mission-ends
Sarah E. Krepps, ‘Why does Peacekeeping Succeed or Fail? Peacekeeping in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra
Leone’, in Jan Angstrom and Isabelle Duyvesteyn, Modern War and the Utility of Force, (New York: Routledge, 2010).
UN Peacekeeping, ‘What we do’, https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/what-we-do
Week 10: The UN and its role in economic, social and health issues
Mikaela Gavas and Samuel Pleeck, ‘Global Trends in 2021: How COVID-19 is transforming international development,
Center for Global Development, 2 March 2021, https://www.cgdev.org/publication/global-trends-2021-how-covid-
transforming-international-development
Charles Kenny, ‘MDGs to SDGS: Have we lost the Plot’, Center for Global Development, 27 May 2015,
https://www.cgdev.org/sites/default/ les/CGD-Essay-Kenny-MDGs-SDGs-Have-Lost-Plot.pdf
UN, The Millennium Development Goals Report, 2015,
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2015_MDG_Report/pdf/MDG%202015%20rev%20(July%201).pdf
Case Study: The UN’s response to COVID-19
Rick Gladstone, ‘UN Security Council ‘Missing in Action’ in Coronavirus Fight’, The New York Times, 11 November 2021,
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/world/americas/coronavirus-united-nations-guterres.html
UN, ‘COVID-19: UN Secretary-General says the world has failed an ethics test’, 21 September 2021,
https://unric.org/en/covid-19-un-secretary-general-says-the-world-has-failed-an-ethics-test/
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UN, ‘Covid-19 could lead to a lost decade for development’, https://www.un.org/en/desa/un-covid-19-could-lead-lost-
decade-development
Week 11: Relevance and Reform - The future role of the UN in international politics
Better World Campaign, UN Strengthening and Reform, 2022, https://betterworldcampaign.org/resources/brie ng-book-
2022/united-nations-strengthening-reform
Council on Foreign Relations, ‘The UN at Seventy-Five: How to Make it Relevant Again’, 14 September 2020,
www.cfr.org/article/un-seventy- ve-how-make-it-relevant-again
Michael Hirsh, ‘Much Maligned But Still Necessary: the UN at 75’, Foreign Policy, 21 September 2020,
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/09/21/much-maligned-but-still-necessary-the-u-n-at-75/
UN, UN75 Report, The United Nations – the Future we want, the United Nations we need,
https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/ les/un75report_september_ nal_english.pdf
Case Study: The 75th anniversary of the UN in 2020 and the future of the United Nations
Alynna Lyon, Kendall Stiles, Alistair Edgar, Kurt Mills and Peter Romaniuk, ‘The 75th Anniversary of the United Nations’,
Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations, June 2020, vol. 26, issue 2, pp. 199-212.
UN, ‘The future of international cooperation: Time to think big, urges Guterres’,
https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/09/1099522
UN, Secretary-General’s report on ‘Our Common Agenda’, https://www.un.org/en/common-agenda

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6SSPP375
Race and Racism in Political Theory
Semester 2
Available to:
Political Economy
Politics
PPE
PPL
History & PE
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Adrian Blau & Dr Humeira Iqtidar
This module addresses the place of race and racism in ‘Western’ and ‘non-Western’ political theory (to the extent that these
should even be considered separate entities). Historically, ‘Western’ political theory was far from silent about questions of
race: for example, Locke, Hume, Je erson, Kant, Bentham, Hegel, Mill, Marx, Nietzsche, Heidegger and Rawls all make
controversial comments about race or fail to address key issues about race. Some make apparently universalistic claims about
all humans being equal or perfectible at the same time as denigrating certain ethnic groups or even supporting slavery. Yet
academics have mostly overlooked these tensions, as if political theory can necessarily be detached from questions of race.
We should ask, though, whether these ideas are as detachable as many think. Failing to address such questions runs the risk
of sanitising Western political theory. We must even re ect on the possibility that some authors’ political theories depend on
racism, and the possibility that failing to address these issues subtly reproduces or actively shapes racism.
Yet at the same time, ‘non-Western’ thinkers have been addressing questions of race and racism in important ways, while
sometimes also voicing racist views of their own. Remarkably, ‘Western’ analyses of race and racism in political theory tend to
ignore non-Western perspectives. The second half of the module will focus more sharply on critiques of race and racism in
political theory from a range of non-western or marginalized thinkers.
This module will thus foster a conversation between a variety of di erent Western and non-Western thinkers in order to ask
such questions as how important ideas of race are or should be in political theory, how certain ideas of race came to dominate
in certain contexts, how explicit or implicit racism is in certain thinkers and ideologies, whether we should consider key
thinkers to be racist or whether those ideas can be separated from their other political arguments, and what it means when
such questions are overlooked.
Please note that you will nd this module easier if you have studied some political theory at university, especially at level 5 or
6. If you are not sure, see how easily you understand the suggested preparatory reading below.
PROVISIONAL LIST OF TOPICS
Part 1: Race and racism in ‘Western’ political theory (Dr Adrian Blau)
Topic 1: Foundations of Western racist theory I: Kant, race and racist political theory
Topic 2: Foundations of Western racist theory II: Locke, Hume, Je erson and racism
Topic 3: Freedom and domination, individual and societal: Frederick Douglass
Topic 4: Critical race theory I: Rawls, Mills and the racial contract
Topic 5: Critical race theory II: beyond racist Western political theory?

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Part 2: Race and racism in ‘non-Western’ political theory (Dr Humeira Iqtidar)
Topic 6: ‘Non-western’ perspectives, orientalism and race
Topic 7: Colonialism and Race: Fanon
Topic 8: Race or Caste? Ambedkar and Gandhi
Topic 9: Race and Gender: bell hooks
Topic 10: Western and non-Western political theory in tension and conversation
Suggested reading (optional)
Not sure if you want to take this module? Or want to do some preparatory reading? Here are some references:
Robert Bernasconi, ‘Will the real Kant please stand up’, Radical Philosophy 117 (2003). A short and bitingly critical account of
Kant’s racism, whether Kant’s racism can be excused because he was ‘just a man of his time’, why Kant’s racism can’t be
separated from his political theory, and what it means when most philosophers ignore this. Online here:
https://www.radicalphilosophy.com/article/will-the-real-kant-please-stand-up
Charles Mills, The Racial Contract (1997) is a readable and fairly short book, which attacks mainstream political theory for its
inattention to race.
Aimé Césaire, Discourse on Colonialism (1950), a searing criticism of colonialism and racism, tying the two together in
important ways. The sharp articulation of the harm of colonialism and racism for the colonizers/racists as well as those
oppressed is an important element of Césaire ‘s argument.
For more detail, see Naomi Zack, ed., The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Race (2017), which has excellent coverage.
Access through KCL library.

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6SSPP376
Women and Politics
Semester 2
Available to:
Political Economy
Politics
PPE
PPL
History & PE
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Anna Gwiazda
Assessment: 2,500-word essay (50%) & 24-hour online exam (50%)
Outline
This module introduces students to the area of women and politics through the lens of comparative politics, drawing on
examples from various world regions and time periods to analyse similarities and di erences across cases. It examines central
topics in the study of women, gender and politics, covering issues such as women’s participation in social movements and
political parties, women as voters and candidates in elections, representatives and leaders, in addition to women’s descriptive
and substantive representation. This module also discusses gender equality, gender mainstreaming, feminist policies and the
gendered consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. It examines vital issues in the eld of women and politics by comparing
political outcomes in a variety of di erent cultural settings, at the national and sub-national level.
Aims
This module aims to:
Introduce students to concepts and debates in the eld of women and politics.
Develop their skills in systematic comparison and methodology that will add rigour to their research and help achieve valid
and well-founded generalizations.
Examine feminist policies including gender quotas, reproductive rights, combating violence against women and girls and
sexual harassment
Highlight the importance of conceptual and theoretical analysis.
Equip students with a good knowledge of issues in comparative politics examined from a gender perspective.
Provide students with a thorough understanding of political representation and public policies promoting women’s
interests.
Analyse the issue of gender politics in countries around the world.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students will:
have an enhanced understanding of the main debates in the eld of women and politics
critically evaluate the impact of gender on politics
be able to approach the study of women and politics in a systematic, comparative and social-scienti c way
examine key issues in gender politics in di erent countries around the world
be able to apply di erent theoretical frameworks and analytical toolkits using case studies and focused comparisons and
re ect critically on the strengths and weaknesses of comparative methods.
Module Structure

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Week 1: Introduction to Women and Politics
Week 2: Theories and methods in comparative politics
Week 3: Feminism and political representation
Week 4: Women’s movements and women’s political parties
Week 5: Descriptive representation: do gender quotas work?
Week 6: Women and elections: voters, candidates, representatives and leaders
Week 7: Substantive representation: do women make a di erence in politics?
Week 8: Gender equality and gender mainstreaming
Week 9: Feminist policies
Week 10: Women and Politics: summary and revision

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6SSPP377
TBC

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6SSPP384
Environmental Economics
Semester 2
Available to:
Political Economy
PPE
Economics
History & PE
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Karlygash Kuralbayeva
Pre-requisites: Mathematics For Economists (5SSPP232 or 4SSMN901) and Microeconomics (5SSPP221 or
5SSPP217)
Overview
Environmental economics is a comparatively young, but by now well-established, branch of economics, which has attracted
more and more students. Environmental economics provides theories and techniques, which help students understand some
important and controversial issues, such as climate change, nuclear power, recycling policy, and tra c congestion charging.
Frameworks taught at the course can be used to evaluate various important policy questions such as: should air regulations
be tightened or loosened? Does economic development necessarily result in a high environmental price? Is there a "Race to
the Bottom" in environmental regulation? Are we running out of oil and other natural resources? What are the costs of climate
change in the UK and other countries?
Provisional Lecture Outline
Environmental externalities and the theory of market failure
Economics of pollution control
Economics of natural resource use
The environmental consequences of economic growth
Evolving issues in environmental economics: health and the environment; insights from behavioral economics

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6SSPP385
Experimental Economics
Semester 2
Available to:
Economics
Political Economy
PPE
History & PE
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Ian Levely
Pre-requisites: Microeconomics 5SSPP221 or 5SSPP217 and Econometrics 5SSPP213 or 4SSMN902 as prerequisite
for non-Economics students. Forbidden combination with 6SSPP332 Behavioural Political Economy
Assessment: 2-hour online exam (65%), 1,000-word essay (25%) and seminar presentation (10%)
Experiments in economics have generated new insights into how people behave. Together with earlier psychological work,
they have spawned a new eld in economics called Behavioural or Experimental economics. This module is concerned with
how these insights regarding individual behaviour are transforming positive and normative economics. For example, we will
be concerned with the following questions.
In what ways do people behave di erently to the predictions of rational choice theory (i.e. the expected utility
maximisation model)?
What is loss aversion and reference dependence?
What is the best model of social preferences?
Does inequality harm cooperation and trust?
Do people value procedures as well as outcomes?
Should governments engage in ‘nudging’?
How do social preferences a ect the analysis of market failure?
Is welfare economics possible if people do not have well behaved preferences?
The module will appeal to students who are interested in how people actually behave and, in particular, in how economics and
policy making are being transformed by these new insights into how people behave..
Preparatory reading (if you have not read it already):
Kahneman, D. Thinking Fast and Slow
Ariely, D. Predictably Irrational
Sunstein, C. and Thaler, R. Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth and Happiness
The module will cover the following topics:
1) The Experimental method
2) Public goods games and cooperation
3) Ultimatum, Dictator and Contest games and social preferences for equity and e ciency
4) Prospect Theory, loss aversion, reference dependence and nudging

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5) Decision by sampling and level-k theory as models of bounded rationality
6) Crowding in /out of social preferences
7) Competition and bargaining
8) Behavioural time discounting

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6SSPP388
Environmental Governance
Semester 2
Available to:
Political Economy
Politics
PPE
History & PE
PPL
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Francesca Vantaggiato
Assessment: 2,500-word essay (80%) & 1,000-word essay proposal (20%)
This module provides students with the analytical means to identify environmental governance processes, diagnose their
failures and successes, and provide actionable recommendations concerning how to overcome the failures and leverage the
successes across di erent contexts and di erent governance scales (local, regional, national, global).
An environmental governance process is a deliberative process whereby di erent actors – from government to business, from
local communities to environmental non-governmental organisations – gather in order to make decisions about managing an
environmental resource and/or deal with a speci c environmental issue (e.g. regulating carbon emission levels, addressing the
consequences of technologies such as hydraulic fracturing, planning for adaptation in a local community) that a ects them all,
and which none of them can address on their own. The process typically unfolds over time, has a name (e.g. partnership,
initiative, forum), has a minimal structure (e.g. meeting schedule, agenda items, working groups) and produces outputs (e.g.
meeting minutes, policy reports and the like).
The goal of environmental governance processes is achieving consensus-based decisions among the di erent actors
concerning which course of action to take. This consensus is typically translated into policy. Environmental governance
processes take place at all governance scales, from international to national to local.
The module comprises two parts. The rst part (weeks 1-5) focuses on four key components of environmental governance
processes00: social capital; distributional implications; science and expertise; and issues of power and environmental justice.
These discussions set the stage for the second part of the module (weeks 6-10), which uses the four components as a
roadmap to examine environmental governance issues at di erent scales (international, federal/regional, national, and local).
The module ends with a review of the concepts and issues tackled in class and a re ection on ‘where do we go from here?’.
Aims
On successful completion of this course students will be able to:
Understand the key features of environmental governance processes across governance scales (international, national,
local);
Identify the interdependencies that exist between di erent governance actors (governmental and non-governmental)
involved in environmental governance processes;
Recognise environmental governance challenges across di erent contexts;
Formulate recommendations concerning how to understand and explain environmental governance challenges.

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Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this course students will be able to:
Diagnose problems and failures in environmental governance processes and articulate actionable recommendations for
improvement;
Recognize and evaluate the aims and potential outcomes of di erent governance arrangements for environmental issues;
Professionally communicate policy advice in the form of policy briefs to government, policy-makers, and environmental
governance stakeholders.

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6SSPP391
Using Economics In Government
Semester 2
Available to:
Political Economy
PPE
Economics
History & PE
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Maia King
Pre-requisites: Student must have taken Microeconomics 5SSPP221 or 5SSPP217
Assessment: 3,000-word essay (90%) Attendance & Participation (10%)
This module uses an active learning approach to link economic tools and insights to real-world policy problems and solutions.
This enables students to develop their own skills, knowledge and experience of the role of economics in policymaking.
Students will be allocated to study groups, and work together to prepare weekly group presentations on policy case studies.
These case studies will be discussed in seminars using role play, along with weekly data visualisation exercises in Excel. One
week of the module will be devoted to feedback on formative written work, including peer feedback. In this module, students
will build their con dence in their own abilities to understand, analyse and produce the materials that are essential to
economic policymaking. They will also develop many skills that employers value, including teamwork, problem-solving, critical
thinking and communication. This module will be of interest to students considering a career in policymaking, whether inside
or outside government, as well as those interested in the use of economics within the policy process. Continued engagement
in weekly activities is expected, and Attendance & Participation makes up 10% of the assessment grade.
Aims
The key educational aims of the module are:
1. To foster an awareness of the range of approaches relevant to the use of economics in the policymaking process in
government.
2. To demand critical engagement with and evaluation of the various qualitative and quantitative tools used in economic
policymaking.
3. To encourage a systematic and re ective understanding of the di erent actors in policymaking in selected sectors in the
UK, and their use of economic concepts, tools and analysis throughout the policymaking process.
4. To further develop relevant transferable skills, especially written and oral communication, team working, accessing and
analysing economic data and policy documents, and describing economic policy options and trade-o s using accessible
language.
Learning Outcomes
Students will gain knowledge and workplace skills that are highly relevant for employment as government economists, or
more broadly as economic analysts and/or policy advisers. By the end of the module, students will gain the following practical
skills and be able to:
name the core actors involved in the policymaking process in the UK, both in government (including e.g. civil servants,
parliament, ministers, departments) and non-government (e.g think tanks), and explain their roles in case studies of
selected policy sectors e.g. climate change, housing;
nd, understand and analyse key economic policy documents produced by core policy actors, such as the Budget,
government or external reviews/reports, select committee reports, impact assessments etc;
identify, describe and critically assess how economic concepts, data analysis and tools have been deployed in key policy
documents;
nd, download and use economic data to analyse policy issues, using the same tools and techniques as those found in key
policy documents; and

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make reasoned arguments using accessible language, supported by economic concepts and data analysis - both orally and
in writing - on the tradeo s between di erent policy options.
They will also gain the following generic and transferable skills for employability and be able to:
produce and present high quality economic data analysis, both through independent work and collaborating with peers;
make use of constructive feedback to achieve progression in understanding, methods and judgement, and learn how to
provide constructive feedback to peers;
master the use of information technology for in-depth research and the presentation of work; and
communicate e ectively and uently in written and oral mediums.

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6SSPP393
Advanced Econometrics
Semester 2
Available to:
Political Economy
PPE
Economics
History & PE
PPL
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Yonatan Berman
Pre-requisites: Econometrics 5SSPP213 or Applied Econometrics 6SSMN961 or equivalent study abroad module
Assessment: technical exercises (30%) & data analysis project (70%)
Teaching format: 1-hour weekly lecture & 6 seminars
Overview
In this course we study advanced econometrics methods for cross-sectional, panel and time-series datasets that are not
covered in Econometrics 5SSPP213, Statistics for Political Science II (5SSPP241), Empirical Political Economy 6SSPP349 and
Applied Econometrics 6SSMN961.
The course focuses on modern econometrics techniques, addressing both theory, practical applications, and programming.
Applications feature real policy evaluations in the eld of health, con ict resolution and skill development. Topics studied
include: linear and non-linear estimation, Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE), power calculations and interpretation of null
results, panel data, ( xed e ects, random e ects), discrete choice models (binary and categorical outcomes), meta-analysis,
survey design.
This is a module for students keen to develop their quantitative method and data analysis skills. It will be particularly useful to
students who aspire to postgraduate studies in economics, computer science, data analytics. Teaching consists of a lecture (2
hours) and 6 lab tutorials (using STATA).

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6SSPP396
Institutional Analysis and Development
Available to:
Political Economy
PPE
Politics
PPL
History & PE
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Pavel Kuchar
Assessment: 2-hour in person exam (30%), participation (10%) & 2,000-word essay (60%)
Overview
This module examines how can fallible human beings sustain large numbers of small, medium sized and large-scale self-
governing entities as well as ecological systems in private and public spheres at multiple levels of analysis. Some of the
questions we will examine are as follows:
• How can we develop and apply institutional analysis to diverse policy arenas including urban public goods, water and
forestry resources, intellectual property rights, and indeed, the governance of markets?
• How can we develop a framework for understanding behaviour that is structured and that generates outcomes at multiple
levels of analysis (imagine a household use of electricity a ecting household budget and health as well as community
infrastructures and investments in regional, national, and global structures)?
• What do we mean when we say that institutions enable and/or constrain e ective problem solving and innovation?
We will learn that a self-governing entity is one whose members participate in continued production, reproduction, and
transformation of the constitutional and collective-choice rules in use; we will see that individuals who engage one another in
e orts to build mutually bene cial social relationships are capable of devising ingenious ways of relating constructively with
one another; and we will learn that individuals who are organized in many small groups nested in larger structures – a
polycentric system – may nd ways of exiting from some settings and joining others to seek remedies from overlapping
groups that may reduce asymmetries within smaller units.
We will view self-governing entities as fragile social artifacts that individuals may be able to constitute and reconstitute over
time and nd out to what kind of disturbances is a self-organized system of governance robust. To do so, we will distinguish
between frameworks for analysis – such as the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) or the Governing Knowledge
Commons (GKC) frameworks – that are compatible with di erent theories (e.g., public choice, game theory) while
accommodating various analytical models and assumptions about the structure of the situations facing individuals (such as
the model of rational economic agent).
Educational aims
This course is designed to help students:
See that markets and states are not dichotomous entities;
Learn to apply basic elements of game theory as one of the theories consistent with the IAD framework;
Recognize core problems that individuals repeatedly face in a wide diversity of settings such as those involved in providing
and regulating the use and provision of public goods, common pool resources, as well as shared and contribution goods;
Understand how polycentric systems of governance operate;
Conduct institutional analysis related (but not exclusive) to human behaviour in a rule-ordered setting at a local, regional,
national, or international domain.

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Key readings
Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. Cambridge University Press.
McGinnis, M. D. (1999). Polycentricity and Local Public Economies: Readings from the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy
Analysis. University of Michigan Press.
For a full list or readings, please click here.

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6SSPP397
The Political Economy of Science Fiction
Semester 2
Available to:
Political Economy
Politics
PPE
History & PE
PPL
15 credits
Module convenors: Dr James Scott, Dr Virginia Preston & Dr Santiago Sanchez-Pages
Assessment: Participation 10%; Presentation 20%; Essay (2,500 words) 70%
Overview
Contemporary science ction o ers a compelling means of interrogating the current challenges of global governance and
political economy. As Brad Torgersen (2013) says, “much of the Science Fiction being written in the 21st century concerns itself
strictly with materialistic concerns: climate change, global warming, the decay of governments and the onset of dystopian
hegemony, or anarchy”. This module provides students with an exploration of the nexus between science ction and political
economy. It uses science ction literature as a means of understanding, exploring and critiquing concepts and theories from
across Political Economy, including international relations, economics and politics.
Through this, students will apply the knowledge gained in other modules within political economy, applying key theories and
techniques of analysis in novel areas in an engaging but rigorous way. The proposed module directly relates to a growing area
of cutting-edge research, namely the interplay between popular culture and politics.
The economics of weeks 3 and 4 is very introductory, requiring no prior knowledge.
Indicative Weekly Outline – subject to change
Introduction and expectations
This week sets out the general approach of the module, expectations concerning preparation for seminars, assessment
pattern etc. It will also start the discussion in introductory terms, with a broad discussion of the nature of science ction.
2. SF, popular culture and politic economy
This week examines the academic literature on popular culture, particularly science ction, and politics. It explores what the
nature of that link is, if there is one at all. It serves to set out the principle analytical framework of the module. It asks whether
science ction and popular culture (a) merely provide useful pedagogical examples (that is, simply encourage student interest
in a topic); (b) a ects the context in which policy takes place, increasing or decreasing public support for particular policies; or
(c) directly a ects public policy through impacting key decision makers.
3. The Economics of Dystopia
In science ction, as in life, scarcity shows up everywhere. In the decisions characters face, the time and nancial constraints
limiting their choices and in uencing their relationship with other characters. Economic models and science ction tell stories
about imaginary characters who make decisions over a nite horizon and live nite lives constrained by limited amounts of
time and money. This lecture revises the extreme economies portrayed in post-apocalyptic lms and dystopian ction. These
genres have very aptly re ected con icts over scarce resources, the social unrest due to rampant income and wealth
inequalities, and the negative economic consequences of the lack of an e ective rule of law.
4. The Economics of Utopia

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Science ction in uences the way we imagine the future. Dystopian and post-apocalyptic ction may contribute to spread the
belief that there will be no further progress for humans and that the world cannot be a better place. We even feel childish and
naïve when we try to imagine a better future. The risk is that the apocalypse may become a self-ful lling prophecy. But science
ction also o ers us seeds of hope if we look closely enough. Several SF works have depicted better futures, better economic
systems, and fairer societies. The lms and novels discussed in this lecture explore di erent utopian horizons and discuss the
economic and social implications of these alternatives.
5. Contact
A recurrent theme in SF is that of ‘ rst contact’ with alien species, sometimes presented as having a positive impact on politics
(e.g. Star Trek), breaking down divisions between states and cultures, elsewhere being seen in a more negative light, triggering
con ict, fear and division. Discussion of these di ering visions of contact with ‘the other’ will be used to springboard into
debates over ‘the other’ in real world IR. This will include whether discourse about ‘the other’ justi es imperialist policies
(Weldes 1999).
6. Colonialism/empire/decolonisation
Science ction frequently engages with the meeting of di erent groups, or races, frequently at di erent stages of
technological sophistication. SF has been explicitly a reaction to, and critique of, colonialism (e.g. Ursula le Guin, The Word for
World is Forest). Elsewhere, it explores the ‘inevitability’ of colonialism when humans meet other races, re ecting a Hobbesian
view of human nature. Tade Thompson’s recent Rosewater trilogy examines neo-colonialism in Nigeria via an alien invasion
that initially seems bene cial. Meanwhile, Iain M Banks’ highly in uential Culture series provides an avenue for exploring the
imperialism inherent in liberalism, in an otherwise utopian vision of the future. Such literature enables an exploration of
empire, colonialism and decolonialism.
7. Gender
This week explores how science ction provides a space to think through radically di erent gender roles and identities and
gives insights into the complexity of de ning gender. It discusses the relevance of gender in contemporary real-world politics
and how feminist science ction enables a critique of prevailing theories of International Relations and their (gendered)
assumptions. It also questions whether SF literature has been able to pre-empt major changes in thinking about gender, or
whether it merely re ects contemporary thinking.
8. Green politics, terraforming, built environment
Science ction frequently deals with the e ects of climate change and technology, as well as how humans might establish new
homes on other planets. Writers and lmmakers also examine the e ect of the natural and built environment on the people
and political systems they are home to, both imagined utopias and dystopias. Here we re ect on how this can help us to think
about the environmental challenges currently being faced.
9. A.I.
Arti cial intelligence is both a recurrent trope of SF and an area of increasing attention within political economy. The impact of
AI on employment, inequality and other aspects of the economy is raising fundamental questions about the future of
capitalism. Again, there is a sense in which this is SF within the academic literature, since it inevitably involves speculation
about possible futures. This week examines the impact of AI, using key SF literature as a way into the discussion, particularly
around whether the advent of AI will be to liberate humans from work or exacerbate inequalities.
10. Political Systems: World government and beyond
World government was once a lively debate within IR and beyond (much taking place in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists) and
has returned more recently (e.g. Craig 2008; Wendt 2003). In a sense, this is at times science ction within IR. The SF literature
provides multiple avenues for discussing alternative forms of world government, routes to achieving it and the problems
engendered. Iain M Banks’s Culture is a multi-planet liberal utopia, where world government is almost meaningless as habitats
are guided by the Minds, while other authors consider the possible fragmentation of systems, for example micro-state
franchises in Neal Stephenson’s Snowcrash, and the Revelation Space universe of Alastair Reynolds.

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6SSPP400
Consent and Coercion
Semester 2
Available to:
Political Economy
Politics
PPE
PPL
History & PE
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Mollie Gerver
Assessment: 4,000-word essay (100%)
Teaching format: 1-hour lecture & 1-hour seminar every week
Overview
It is often claimed that consent must be voluntary. For example, a patient's consent to surgery must be voluntary before the
surgeon is permitted to insert a scalpel into her body. Yet, those who work with disadvantaged populations often accept
involuntary consent as valid. For example, United Nations (UN) aid workers will sometimes ask refugees who are detained if
they consent to the UN helping them return to their home countries. These aid workers accept refugees’ consent to repatriate
as valid, even though refugees’ choices seem involuntary. This module utilizes analytic philosophy to addresses when
involuntary consent is valid. We will address not only when aid workers should help refugees repatriate, but other questions
as well, including whether governments should accept a woman’s consent to marriage as valid when she is pressured by
parents into her decisions; whether individuals ought to accept their partner’s consent to sex as valid when their partner is
pressured by society into having sex; and whether doctors ought to accept patients’ consent to medical treatment as valid
when patients feel pain which clouds their judgment.
Aims
To understand various concepts essential to the study of consent and coercion, such as the concept of “voluntariness” and
the concept of “duress.”
To help students analyse how philosophers and political theorists research the study of involuntary consent.
To provide students with an advanced understanding of leading philosophical arguments supporting and opposing key
policies relating to involuntary consent. For example, the module will explain the premises and conclusions that some
theorists have raised to defend UNCHR repatriation policies.
To equip students with the skills to evaluate broader principles concerning consent and coercion, such as the principle
that it is unjust to deny individuals freedom and autonomy.
To explain to students the speci c justi cations given by policymakers in defence of speci c marriage policies, such as
policies recognizing marriages that are only semi-voluntary. Students will be told these justi cations and given the
opportunity to express whether they agree with these justi cations.
The module will carefully distinguish between di erent types of pressure, including coercion, duress, psychological
manipulation, and constrained options (as when someone feels pressure to consent to marriage due to poverty).
Importantly, the module will help students tie very abstract philosophical theories to very speci c policies, and even
speci c acts that students might engage in themselves: whenever students must decide whether to touch another person,
kiss another person, and have sex with another person, they must decide whether they have a right to do so.
Understanding whether pressure and coercion can undermine their partner’s consent will help students better
understand how to respect the rights of others.
The module will further help students hear views that are distinct from their own, becoming aware that certain premises
they might take for granted – such as the premise that consent must always be voluntary – may not be held by their fellow
students, or by some leading political and moral philosophers.

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6SSPP403
Advanced Game Theory
Semester 2
Available to:
Political Economy
PPE
Politics
History & PE
PPL
15 credits
Module convenor: Dr Mehmet Ismail
Pre-requisites: 5SSPP227 Game Theory and Strategic Decision-Making
Assessment: 1,500-word project (70%) & presentation of project (30%)
Teaching format: 1-hour lecture weekly & 8x seminars
This module covers non-cooperative game theory and brie y cooperative game theory, with a focus on developing analytical
and strategic skills for understanding complex economic and political processes. Students will learn how to formulate strategic
interactions in normal form and extensive form, as well as how to apply solution concepts like Nash equilibrium, maximin
strategies, and other behavioural solution concepts. The course will also brie y cover cooperative game theoretical concepts
such as the core, and matching theory and its applications such as the stable marriage problem. Upon completion of the
module, students should be able to understand and apply game theory to models in political economy, sports, and real-world
competitive games. Additionally, they should also understand the connection between game theory and its contribution to
recent developments in arti cial intelligence.

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Full Year
The modules in this section run in Semester 1 & 2.

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6SSPP352
Dissertation
Semester 1 & 2
Available to:
Political Economy
Politics
PPE
Economics
History & PE
30 credits
UG Dissertation Coordinator: Dr Jonathan Leader Maynard
Assessment: 1,500-word proposal (10%) & 8,000-word essay (90%)
Teaching format: 6 hours of lectures, 1 workshop
Overview
This module gives you the opportunity to develop and undertake an independent research project on a topic of your own
choosing, to pursue your own interests in greater depth than before. In the course of doing so, you will have the chance to
draw on the skills and knowledge you have acquired earlier in the degree in order to formulate and answer a speci c, focused
research question. You will receive support, both in the form of lectures/workshops and guidance from you supervisor. And
you will also demonstrate autonomy in carrying out your research project – a valuable intellectual skill which is also helpful in
the job market. In this way, the module aims to help you develop your capacity for independent research. The dissertation
thus contributes to future research and employment needs by helping you foster your skills in critical thinking, research, and
extended writing. It is, for many people, the culmination of your degree.

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Year 3 DPE Module Outlines 23-24

The World Economy and its History (King's College London)

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this is either because:

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The modules in this section run in Semester 1.

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Eighteenth-Century Political Thought

Module convenor: Dr Paul Sagar

Combination with 6AAOB302 European Political Thought.

Assessment: 2,000-word essay (40%) and 3,000-word essay (60%)

from primary-text material. There is no lecture for this course.

Provisional seminar programme

1. Mandeville on the Origins of Virtue and Honour

2. Mandeville on Self-love, Pride and Virtue

3. Mandeville’s Critique of Shaftesbury

4. Hume on the Foundations of Morality, Justice, and Government

5. Hume’s Political Essays

7. Smith on Propriety and Sympathy

8. Smith and Grouchy on the Distinction of Ranks and Moral Corruption

9. Smith on Justice, the Impartial Spectator and Praiseworthiness

10. Smith on Utility, Custom, and the Character of Virtue

11. Smith and Grouchy on Slavery and Inequality

Sophie de Grouchy, Letters on Sympathy

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Shaftesbury, Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times, 3 vols.

Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments

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The Economics of Crime

Module convenor: Dr Anisa Butt

Assessment: 2-hour online exam (50%) & 1,800-word essay (50%)

Teaching format: 1-hour lectures & 1-hour seminar weekly

Levitt and Dubner. 2007. Freakonomics. Penguin. (£6.99)

The module will cover the following topics:

1) What can economics bring to the analysis of crime?

2) How do illicit markets work?

3) How do criminals communicate and organise?

4) Criminal law and policing from an e ciency perspective.

5) Private crime control

6) Does prison work?

7) Organised crime and ma as

8) Case study I: the market for hostages

9) Case study II: the art market

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10) Case study III: maritime security

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Module convenor: Dr Julian Limberg

Teaching format: 1-hour lecture & 1-hour seminar weekly

making in EU and OECD countries.

By the end of the module, you should be able to:

variation in speci c policy areas

variation in such policy, and policy change.

207). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

International Organization 60(4): 781-810.

Oxford University Press, Chapter 1.

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Behavioural Political Economy

Module convenor: Professor Shaun Hargreaves Heap

Pre-requisites: Forbidden combination with 6SSPP385 Experimental Economics

Teaching format: 1-hour lecture & 1-hour seminar weekly