- Advanced Materials by Design: Theory and Computation
- African Diaspora and the Atlantic World Research Circle
- Agroecology
- American Indian Studies
- Bioethics
- Biomedical Engineering
- Biophotonics
- Chemical Biology
- Chemistry
- Cognitive Sciences
- Communication Technologies Research
- Comparative Political Economy
- Comparative U.S. Studies
- Computational Sciences
- Computational Systems Biology
- Computer Engineering
- Computer Sciences
- Cultural Studies in a Global Context
- Disability Studies
- Energy Sources and Policy
- Expressive Culture and Diversity in the Upper Midwest
- Food Pathogens and Toxins
- Functional Brain Imaging
- Functional Organic Materials
- Genomics
- Global Governance and International Finance
- Initiative for Studies in Transformational Entrepreneurship
- Interdisciplinary Arts Residency Program
- International Environmental Affairs and Global Security
- International Public Affairs
- Land Use
- Law, Society and Justice
- Mathematical Physics - String Theory
- Middle Eastern Studies
- Molecular Biometry
- Nanophase Inorganic Materials and Devices
- Political Economy
- Poverty Studies
- Religious Studies
- Science and Technology Studies
- Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine
- Structural Biology
- Symbiosis
- Translational Research - Neurodegenerative Diseases
- Very High Energy Astrophysics and Cosmology
- Visual Culture
- Vitamin D
- Women's Health Research/Biology of Sex and Gender Differences
- Zebrafish Biology
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 within and between polities.
Cluster accomplishments
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The cluster organizes the Political Economy Colloquium. Run on a biweekly basis since 2006, this colloquium features a wide range of external and internal speakers from political science, economics, and sociology.
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Cluster faculty have introduced new courses to UW-Madison, 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 neighboring 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 and Mathematical Models of Social Systems form a two-semester sequence in mathematical sociology, covering both social structure (network analysis) and social process (linear and non-linear dynamical systems). The Economic Approach to Human Behavior introduces economics undergraduates to economic research on “non-economic” topics such as the family, politics, and religion.
- One cluster member has recently completed Representation Through Taxation: Revenue, Politics, and Development in Postcommunist States, published by Cambridge University Press. This 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 have broadened interdisciplinary thought in their home departments, and strengthened these departments with their expertise in rational choice and mathematical modeling. Through new courses and the political economy colloquium, the cluster faculty offer students an interdisciplinary perspective bridging economics, political science, and sociology.
Cluster coordinator, faculty and lead dean
Cluster Coordinator
- Scott Gehlbach, Associate Professor, Political Science
Cluster Faculty
- James Montgomery, Professor, Sociology and Economics
- Scott Gehlbach, Associate Professor, Political Science
Lead Dean
- Gary Sandefur, Dean of the College of Letters and Science