Dr C Gordon, COW. G.05 and Dr A Innes, COW. 2.10

Optional course for MSc Political Economy of Europe, MSc Political Science and Political Economy, MSc Management, MPA Programme (all streams), MSc Politics and Government in the European Union and LSE-Sciences Po Double Degree in European Studies. Available to other students subject to the availability of places, and with the permission of the teacher responsible.

EU409 Basic Economic Concepts for European Political Economy or equivalent.

The course applies concepts of political economy, economics and political science to its investigation of Central and Eastern Europe's evolution through post-communist transition to highly open, FDI-dependent emerging markets with 'European' expectations of welfare. Placing the region in the comparative context of both the EU15 and comparable emerging markets, the course investigates the ongoing challenges of political and institutional consolidation and the developmental consequences of the liberalization and FDI-led growth model of the 1990s/2000s. The course examines the emerging strengths and persistent weaknesses of these political economies and considers their implications for the region's emerging varieties of capitalism, relative international competitiveness and political stability. The lectures aim to provide analytical frameworks and an overview of the major research findings and debates about systemic transformation, the influence of EU accession and emerging developmental challenges. The seminars link key concepts with the empirical evidence arising from comparative cases.

10 x 1 hour lectures (LT) and 10 x 1.5 hour seminars (LT);
1 x 1.5 hour revision seminar (ST)

Two essays.

N Barr (ed.) (2005) Labor Markets and Social Policy in Central and Eastern Europe: The Accession and Beyond, Washington DC: The World Bank; H. Grabbe (2006) The EU's Transformative Power: Europeanization through Conditionality in Central and Eastern Europe, Basingstoke: Palgrave; J Kornai (1992), The Socialist System: The Political Economy of Communism, Princeton University Press; G Roland (2000) Transition and Economics: Politics, Markets and Firms, Cambridge MA: The MIT Press; G Schopflin (1993) Politics in Eastern Europe 1945-1992, Blackwell; Alfred Stepan and Juan Linz (1996) Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America and Post-Communist Europe, London: Johns Hopkins University Press; Sharon L. Wolchik and Jane L. Curry (eds) (2008) Central and East European Politics: From Communism to Democracy, London: Roman and Littlefield; Gil Eyal, Ivan Szelenyi and Eleanor Townsley (1998) Making Capitalism Without Capitalists: The New Ruling Elite in Eastern Europe, London: Verso; Anna Grzymala-Busse (2007) Rebuilding Leviathan: Party Competition and State Exploitation in Post-Communist Democracies, Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press; Stephen Haggard and Robert R. Kaufmann, (2008) Development, Democracy and Welfare States: Latin America, East Asia and Eastern Europe, Princeton: Princeton University Press. Journals often cited: East European Politics and Society, Journal of Democracy, Economics of Transition and Europe-Asia Studies

One two-hour written examination in ST (100%).