Comparative Political Economy

Recommended Prerequisites

Not applicable.

Teaching Methods

This unit combines the exposition of some topics of comparative political economy with collective discussions of their pertinence and usefulness for empirical analysis, thereby preparing students to autonomously explore the themes they consider more relevant to their future work. The collective discussion will be made in the context of seminars to be developed both by students and by professors.

Learning Outcomes

1. Understand the importance of institutions and of its variety in the dynamics of capitalism.
2. Apprehend the multiple scales, national and supranational, that structure the different capitalisms and the way they contribute to processes of homogenization and of variegation as time goes by.
3. Understand the roles that globalization and Europeanization have had in the processes of institutional change at the national level.
4. Learn to use the analytical tools made available to analyze the interaction between international crises and multiscale policy reactions.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1. The Varieties of Capitalism approach. 1.1. Presentation and discussion of its virtues and limits; 1.2. The European models of capitalism. 2. The political economy of globalization and of Europeanization. 2.1.The role of European States and of supranational institutions in economic and financial integration; 2.2.The determinants of institutional homogenization and variegation in the different capitalisms across the continent. 2.3. Asymmetric Europeanization and the articulation between money, finance, public and private, and the Welfare States; 3. The Great Recession and the Eurozone Crisis. 3.1. Analysis of the European imbalances in the context of crisis; 3.2.Analysis of the policy reactions and of the institutional changes in the context of crisis.

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Other: 35.0%
Research work: 65.0%

Bibliography

Clift, B. (2014) Comparative Political Economy, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Hay, C. (2011), “Globalization Impact on States” in J. Ravenhill (ed.), Global Political Economy, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 312-344. Hall, P. (2012), “The Economics and Politics of the Euro Crisis”, German Politics, 21(4): 355-371. Hancké, B. (ed.) (2009), Debating Varieties of Capitalism: A Reader, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ryner, M. e Cafruny, A. (2016), The European Union and Global Capitalism – Origins, Development, Crisis, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Rodrik, D. (2011), The Globalization Paradox, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Streeck, W. (2013), Tempo Comprado – A Crise Adiada do Capitalismo Democrático, Lisboa: Actual.