Cluster focus

Political Economy is an old and distinguished line of research that has been “rediscovered” in recent years. Originally, economics, political science and sociology were a unified area of study known as political economy. Over time, these disciplines became specialized, and issues that straddled these fields were ignored or subjected to narrow study. Today, especially through the growth of the rational-choice approach, these disciplines are being recombined to create collaborative research long missing from the social sciences. This cluster uses mathematical modeling to address a wide range of topics bridging economics, political science and sociology, with special emphasis on rational-choice models of strategic behavior and its applications to politics.

Cluster accomplishments

  • One cluster faculty member is co-organizing a political-economy colloquium with a professor of political science and public affairs. With support of the Brittingham Trust, the colloquium will feature some 15 external and internal speakers during 2006.
  • Cluster faculty have introduced new courses, greatly expanding the curriculum in rational choice and mathematical modeling for students in political science and sociology. Game Theory and Political Analysis and Formal Models in Political Science form a two-semester sequence in game theory and its applications to politics; these courses have attracted students not only from political science, but also from other disciplines in the social sciences. Political Choice and Strategy is an undergraduate survey of rational-choice theory and its applications to politics. Foundations of Economic Sociology explores key economic concepts, like game theory, from a sociological perspective. Intended for graduate students specializing in economic sociology, the course also draws students from the business school. Introduction to Mathematical Sociology explores how mathematics may be used to represent and analyze sociological concepts and theories, and focuses especially on social-network analysis. The Economic Approach to Human Behavior introduces economics undergraduates to economic research on “sociological” topics such as the family and religion.
  • One cluster faculty member is nearly finished writing a book on the political economy of taxation in post-communist countries. The book offers a theoretical framework for understanding the role that tax compliance plays in the allocation of collective goods across economic sectors, and provides empirical evidence that governments in the former Soviet Union have been especially willing to provide collective goods to sectors (ranging from vodka production to resource extraction) which they can more easily tax.

Cluster structure

The cluster faculty members have broadened interdisciplinary thought in their home departments, and have strengthened these departments with their expertise in rational choice and mathematical modeling. Through new courses and the political economy colloquium, cluster faculty offer students an interdisciplinary perspective bridging economics, political science and sociology.

Cluster coordinator, faculty and lead dean

Cluster Coordinator

Cluster Faculty

Lead Dean