Applied Political Economy

Year
1
Academic year
2018-2019
Code
03019931
Subject Area
Social Sciences
Language of Instruction
Portuguese
Mode of Delivery
Face-to-face
Duration
SEMESTRIAL
ECTS Credits
10.0
Type
Compulsory
Level
3rd Cycle Studies

Recommended Prerequisites

Not applicable.

Teaching Methods

The classes combine expository sessions with the presentation of cases of study and debate among doctoral students.
The teaching-learning process in the first and second modules consists in theoretical-practical sessions based on lecturing followed by debate around the analysis of listed papers, with previous reading and compulsory presentation of paper summaries. The third module, focused on case studies, fosters a dialogue between theoretical and methodological approaches, in order to initiate students' reflection on the theoretical and empirical research options they will face.  

Learning Outcomes

1.Enable students for the theoretical mapping of conceptions about the role of the State in the post-war economy. 2.Enable students to identify and characterize the main historical processes that shaped the contemporary Political Economy. 3.Provide instruments for the analysis of the sectoral specificities, national and regional varieties of the various systems of provision. 4.To enable students to analyse systems of provision on the basis of a methodology that integrates multiple institutional dimensions and their articulations. 5.To enable students to critically analyse the trajectory of systems of provision in Portugal, articulating the international sphere where they integrate with their historical and contextual specificities.    

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1.The State and the Economy in the post-war period - The building-up of various welfare regimes: from Bismarck to Beveridge. - The Great Depression and the debate on public policies: macroeconomic management and industrial policy. - The resurgence of liberalism in the post-war period: Thatcher and Reagan. - Financial and economic integration: from "Bretton Woods" to the Great Recession.2.Reconfiguration of Systems of Provision - The new monetary regime (from the reliance on central banks to the deregulation of banks).- Reconfiguration of public investment regimes (the Public-Private Partnership models).-Transformations of employment policies and ways of organizing labour markets. - Tax system and redistribution. - Corporatization and privatization of public services. 3.Analysis of case studies - Social Security: pensions systems and social policy. - Health: the diffused borders between the public and the private. - Public utilities: Water, electricity, telecommunications, transport.

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Other: 25.0%
Research work: 75.0%

Bibliography

Kuhnle, S.; Sander, A. (2010). The Emergence of the Western Welfare State. In Castles, F. G.; Leibfried, S.; Lewis, J.; Obinger, H.; Pierson, C. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of the Welfare State. Oxford: Oxford Unversity Press. Maurin, É. (2009). La peur du déclassement: une sociologie des récessions. Paris: Seuil. Mitchell A. Orenstein (2013), “Pension Privatization: Evolution of a Paradigm”, Governance 26, 2, pp. 259–281. Mirowski, P. (2013). Never let a serious crisis go to waste: How neoliberalism survived the financial meltdown. Verso Books. Rodrigues, J.; Santos, A.C. & Teles, N. (2016). A Financeirização do Capitalismo em Portugal. Actual Editora. Orenstein, M.A. (Ed.) (2008). Pensions, Social Security, and the Privatization of Risk. Columbia University Press / SSRC Books. van der Wel, K. A., & Halvorsen, K. (2015). “The bigger the worse? A comparative study of the welfare state and employment commitment”. Work, employment and society, 29(1), 99-118.