IR468      Half Unit
The Political Economy of Trade

This information is for the 2025/26 session.

Course Convenor

Availability

This course examines how politics shape policies and institutions that govern international trade. The course is divided into three modules: i) introduction, ii) theories, and iii) topics in international trade. After the introductory week, the course surveys classical readings that provide different approaches to international trade. During the theory module, students will investigate how geopolitics, interest groups, institutions, and ideas shape international trade. Students will compare different arguments and evidence provided by scholars of these traditions and build foundations to apply these perspectives to analysing new topics in international trade. Once the theory module is complete, students will apply these theoretical approaches to new topics in international trade. This module focuses on a variety of topics: trade and climate, trade as a human rights strategy, the World Trade Organization, US-China trade war, populism & trade-related welfare policies, intellectual property rights, and negotiations of bilateral & plurilateral trade deals. Students will examine competing IR and political science theories that explain trade policy outcomes, and use those theories in analysing important topics on trade. Most of the required readings are by IR scholars and political scientists who are grappling with international trade policies from political science/IR perspectives. They are recently published journal articles, book chapters, and case studies.

15 hours of seminars and 10 hours of lectures in the Autumn Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn Term.

Students will be expected to produce 1 essay in the AT.

Students will do a 7-minute presentation during seminar. In the presentation, students will choose a reading and critically assess it, comparing it to other essential readings. They will articulate how the chosen reading helps answer an important question or not and compare the author’s approach to other approaches. Critical thinking is an important component that will help students do well in the summative exam.

Davis, Christina L. Food fights over free trade: how international institutions promote agricultural trade liberalization. Princeton University Press, 2011.

Gowa, Joanne. Allies, adversaries, and international trade. Princeton University Press, 1995.

Woll, Cornelia. Firm interests: How governments shape business lobbying on global trade. Cornell University Press, 2008.

Steinberg, Richard H. "In the shadow of law or power? Consensus-based bargaining and outcomes in the GATT/WTO." International organization 56.2 (2002): 339-374.

Mutz, Diana C. Winners and losers: The psychology of foreign trade. Vol. 36. Princeton University Press, 2021.

Essay (100%) in January

The essay will be a take-home assessment in January.