Dr David Woodruff and Dr Steffen Hertog

Primarily for MSc Comparative Politics (Politics and Markets). Also available, based on available space and with the approval of Dr Woodruff, to other MSc Comparative Politics streams, MSc Public Policy and Administration, MSc Political Science and Political Economy, MSc Public Policy and Administration (Research), MSc Development Studies, MSc Global Politics and LSE-PKU Double Degree in Public Administration and Government students.

To introduce politics students to basic economic theorising; to discuss the nature of markets; review contemporary discussions regarding the role of the state in the economy; provide a comparison of the relationship of states and markets in different political settings and historical contexts.

Topics: The state and the institutional foundations of markets. Pathways of development of market institutions. "Taming" markets. Varieties of capitalism. New challenges: changing corporate governance, international capital mobility, politics and economics of financial crisis.

One hour lecture and 1.5 hour seminar per week in the MT and two seminars in the first and second weeks of the ST.

All students are expected to submit one non-assessed essay.

Block, "The Roles of the State in the Economy." Polanyi, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time. North. Institutions, Institutional Change, and Economic Performance; Gerschenkron. "Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective." Hall and Soskice, "An Introduction to Varieties of Capitalism." Lazonick and O'Sullivan. "Maximizing Shareholder Value: A New Ideology for Corporate Governance."

A two-hour examination in the ST (100%).