Politics, Philosophy, and Economics

Fall 2022 | MW 9:45-11:00 am

This class has two separate sections that meet at the same time

Y405: #33870 (for dual degree in Econ and Poli Sci)

Y490: #36235 (for capstone seminar and IW credits)

This class teaches an integrative approach called Politics, Philosophy, and Economics (PPE) to examine societal challenges at all scales, ranging from global pandemics to more local concerns such as fixing public infrastructure, among many others.

In terms of political analysis, this class combines positive and normative political theory to study collective choices in democratic settings. On the positive side, you will learn various models and theories of institutions and political decision making. On the normative side, from a more analytical political theory perspective, you will learn that collective choices are also informed by guiding principles that require philosophical analysis of contestable notions of fairness and social justice.

Important note

Normative aspects necessarily invite debate about competing values. And given this course's combined positive-normative approach and analytical orientation, participants will be expected to both complete required readings in advance and actively engage in topical debates. Please take these factors into consideration to decide your enrollment.

This class does not advance any political or ideological goals despite its normative components. Everyone will be expected to produce cogent arguments for either preferred positions or assigned analytical tasks in class meetings (the latter neither require nor presuppose that a student holds a particular view).

This course's overall pedagogical goal is enabling exchange of ideas, debates, and creating an active learning environment to hone student's critical thinking skills. Students will not be graded on their expressed views. Instead, all graded assessments will have clear (general) expectations that emphasize critical thinking, communication skills, and relevant knowledge of substantive debates.

Modules

This class is open to all IU undergraduate students from different programs and schools who have taken at least one political science class at the 200 level. To facilitate learning objectives, the course is organized into five biweekly modules that gradually build up basic knowledge for concurrent discussions of relevant policy applications.

INCENTIVES
Weeks 1-3
This first module introduces the course from a beginner's perspective with a game theory primer to discuss first textbook readings on rationality.
institutions
Weeks 4-6
This second module introduces a political dimension through textbook and other readings on political authority, property, and voting systems.
values
Weeks 7-9
In this third module, we add a philosophical dimension through discussions of textbook readings on justice, equality and cost-benefit analysis approaches to public policy.
social dilemmas
Weeks 10-12
This is the first of two post-midterm modules where we leverage concepts and analytical toolsets that span the whole range of politics, philosophy, and economics (PPE). In this module, we take a more general approach to topics like collective action, public choice, and debates about voting and political participation.
public policies
Weeks 13-15
In this final module, we apply PPE thinking to more concrete domains involving markets, regulation of new technologies, and insights from behavioral public policy (along with associated normative debates).

Learning outcomes

Besides a multi-disciplinary approach, this course emphasizes development of relevant analytical and critical thinking skills to debate and formulate own arguments about various public policy concerns.

From a skills-based perspective, successful completion of this course will enable students to:

Explain preference-based models of individual decision-making
Learn basic voting theory to calculate aggregate outcomes under six social choice procedures
Apply mathematical analysis to assess the fairness and equitability of group choices
Apply game-theoretic models to examine the impact of political institutions on the formulation and implementation of public policies
Learn a conventional rhetorical framework to advance scholarly arguments
Distinguish three ethical frameworks that inform solutions to social dilemmas
Describe debates about the nature of political failures and corresponding solutions
Describe debates about the nature of market failures and correspoding solutions
Apply insights from behavioral science for constructive dialogues and policy analysis
Formulate a policy analysis or write a term paper to examine a major social problem

Materials

There are two required textbooks. The first title is available for purchase from the IMU booktore. The second title is available as an IU e-text through Canvas.

Anomaly, Jonathan et al (2015), Politics, Philosophy, and Economics: An Anthology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190207311.
Graff, Gerald and Cathy Birkenstein (2018). They Say/I Say. Fifth Edition. W.W. Norton Press. ISBN 9780393538700.

Other readings and links to supplementary materials will be available online through our Canvas site.

Requirements

As explained above under modules, this is a self-contained course that will teach you all you need to successfully complete graded assessments.

Students’ final grades will be based on the following requirements:

Component	Contribution
1) Attendance and active participation	15%
2) Four short position papers	20%
3) Academic writing and rhetorical analysis quizzes	15%
4) Behavioral science module	10%
5) Homework & policy analysis OR term paper	40%

All registered students share the first four requirements. The final item, that contributes 40% to final grades, varies by class. Students who register for Y490 will need to satisfy associated Intensive Writing (IW) requirements that entail longer writing pieces and revisions to produce a polished term paper due at the end of the semester. In turn, Y405 students will have several skills assignments and a policy analysis for item 5.

This class does not have a final exam.

Questions about this class?

Please send me an e-mail message to arazo AT indiana DOT edu

Other courses