Course Code: C127

Course Title: Political economy of public policy

College: SOAS CEDEP

Course Director: Colin Poulton

Course Description: Technical specialists (researchers, development workers, even policy advisors) often get frustrated that policies that are actually adopted and/or implemented deviate far from their technical recommendations. In economics, this is often viewed as "state failure": the state does not do what economists would like it to do to promote market development and efficiency. This course explores the interactions between politics and policy making, seeking to understand actual policies as the outcome of interaction between rational politicians and the people and groups who help them acquire and retain power.

It begins with a review of "new political economy" theory as developed in, and applied to, high income democratic states. It shows that, far from being a "bad thing", political processes are essential to resolve struggles over the distribution of resources and the direction of policy, issues that cannot be resolved by resort to purely technocratic or objective criteria. Later units consider the interactions between politics and policy making in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, East and South Asia. These units examine how and why politics and policy making in these regions diverge from the models presented for high income democratic states. An overarching question running through the course is how countries transition from political systems based on patron-client politics to systems where politics are more policy-based. Each of the regional units begins by examining how politics have shaped recent broad development experience, then explores the specific case of agricultural policy to enable some comparison across regions and with the OECD states considered in the first part. Finally, the course considers the politics of international policy making, examining international negotiations on agricultural trade and on carbon emissions.

On successful completion of the course you will be able:

• To appreciate the often messy process by which policies are made

• To explain and critique rational choice models of policy making as developed for high income democratic states

• To understand how and why politics and policy making in selected developing regions diverge from the models presented for high income democratic states

• To understand the factors underpinning patron-client politics and what it might take to overturn these

• To critically assess the relationships between rents, rent-seeking and economic growth

• To appreciate the political determinants of agricultural policies in different regions of the world

• To understand how political considerations shape the outcomes of international policy negotiations.

Assessment: Exam 100%

Course Credit: All SOAS CeDEP short course students receive a certificate of completion. Students of SOAS CeDEP Short Courses who may wish to transfer credit to Certificate, Diploma or Masters-level programmes are advised to select short courses which also act as Core Modules on CeDEP's various programmes.

Course Study Hours/Duration: 240 hrs over 35 weeks

Schedule of Availability: Feb - Oct (Enrolment deadline prior to Feb start - 30th November)

Delivery Mechanisms: Print; CD-Rom; Online Discussion

Cost: £960

How to apply: To enquire about applying for this course, or for any other information, please contact the Course Administrator using the online Enquiry Form below