In addition to using methods standard in the constituent disciplines, political economy has pioneered in developing new tools for the study of collective action in the presence of conflicting private interests. The scope of inquiry ranges from mature capitalist countries, to developing economies to nations making transitions to capitalist systems. In all cases, the focus is on issues that cannot be properly understood without insights gained from both international economics and international politics. In its approaches to these issues international political economy typically goes beyond the constituent disciplines by combining traditional economic concerns about efficiency with traditional political concerns regarding distributional issues and legitimacy in market and nonmarket environments. The resulting combination of insights provides a means of better understanding complex interactions at the local, national and international levels.
Students apply to be candidates for honors during the spring semester of junior year.
Please see the Assistant Dean or the chair of the Field Committee for more information.