ACADEMICS

Course Descriptions

Interdisciplinary Course in Political Economy: American Political and Economic Systems of Organization

The Institute's curriculum engages students in a thorough examination of fundamental political and economic concepts , using the American model as its focus. The course is divided into two components -- government and economics.

The Politics Component is designed to help students from a variety of nations to deepen their understanding of the basic moral, political, and legal principles of a free society by looking at how those principles evolved historically and then, mainly, at how they have been understood, instituted, and followed or not followed in America. In the American context, the principles are captured most clearly in the Declaration of Independence. But the Declaration drew from the whole of Western civilization. Thus, the first part of the course traces the history of the principles from antiquity to the late 18th century and their incorporation in the United States Constitution. After that, we will examine how the Constitution's division and separation of powers serves to protect individual liberty, allowing a free society to flourish. We will then trace the history of that plan to show how it has and has not worked to secure ordered liberty under the rule of law, drawing lessons from this experience for other forms of government, including parliamentary systems.

The Economics Component is organized around the idea of the market economy. The existence of the market raises many important questions. What are the advantages of markets? What social functions do they perform especially well? What are the limits of markets – and what is the corresponding economic role of the state? These are the questions that define our inquiry in the first part of the course.

This understanding of the role of markets within countries will inform our analysis of exchanges between and among them: international, regional and global market structures. The second part of the course will therefore survey important theories in economics and political economy regarding international trade, international finance, currency markets, and globalization.

Since our time is limited, we cannot hope to learn everything about economics (especially all the technical analysis for which economists are famous). But we may learn something about the most important economic problems that the world’s leaders face today (and will face tomorrow) and the ways that economists try to understand and solve them. Our goal, therefore, is to study the economics that tomorrow’s leaders will need to understand if they are to solve tomorrow’s economic problems.