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Course Description

Summary

Polity (Latin polītīa Greek polīteía) denotes citizenship and forms of government, while economy (Latin oeconomia  Greek oikonomíā) denotes how a nation’s resources are managed and organized. In this seminar, we will explore how resources are put to use in a country and how goods and services are produced, consumed and distributed amongst its people. We will examine how people’s economic lives are organized given the relationship between citizens and government, between individuals and society, and between markets and the state. And, we will examine, how economic pressures and interests, in turn, shape social policies and political processes within a nation state and across countries. This is an introductory course and will involve close reading of selected primary-source and critical secondary-source literature. The primary mode of discussion will be verbal and written exposition, but we will explore the expression of these ideas in graphical and mathematical form where appropriate. Students need no prior knowledge of economics to take this course.