ECN305 Political Economy Spring Semester 2023-2024

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Department of Economics

Spring Semester 2023-2024

Module Code and Title of Module:

ECN305 Political Economy

Submission deadline: Friday, 24 May 2024, 12.00 noon

There are FOUR questions divided in TWO sections.

In SECTION A, you are expected to write a short essay. This section includes TWO questions and each question carries 40 marks.

In SECTION B, you are expected to write a short empirical report. This section includes TWO questions and each question carries 60 marks.

Answer ONE question from Section A and ONE question from Section B.

The answer for SECTION A should not exceed the limit of 1200 words. The answer for SECTION B should not exceed the limit of 1800 words. The word limits include footnotes, tables, diagrams and figures but exclude references (the bibliography list).

Submission Instructions

Coursework must be submitted online through Blackboard using Turnitin and by no later than 12.00 noon on the deadline. Coursework submitted after the 12.00 noon deadline will have a late penalty applied. Details about the late penalty policy can be found in the Student Handbook.

You must attach a submission template coversheet to the front of your work when submitting it to Turnitin to avoid a 5% penalty. Full details of this policy can be found in the Student Handbook.

Please ensure that you have read the assessment guidelines provided in the Student Handbook, including the guidance about submission requirements, extension requests and extenuating circumstances and the use of unfair means.

Please enter your SRN (student registration number) as the submission title.

You must submit the data file for your answer in Section B. Note that there are two submission links: one link is provided for the coursework itself and one link is provided for the data file. Marks will capped at 40 if the data file is missing.

Further Guidelines

Essays: You are expected to summarise and briefly compare, contrast, or criticise academic articles on the topic considered. For example, what ideas, results or perspectives have these articles advanced? What are the main implications of their findings? Are the conclusions drawn in these articles in general agreement or in contrast with each other? How do these articles fit in with the material covered in this module?

Empirical Reports: You are expected to present YOUR OWN empirical evidence associated with the research question (in the form of summary statistics, charts, graphs, bivariate correlations or regression results). Make sure to provide information about the data and the variables used for your own empirical analysis and to qualify your conclusions (explain why the evidence obtained from your analysis is consistent with – or fails to support – the predictions of the theoretical models or previous empirical findings). Note that the mark will depend on the overall quality of the empirical report, and not on how advanced the empirical analysis is or on how consistent the findings are with the broader literature.

For both essays and empirical reports, you should adopt the tone of an academic article. Harvard referencing must be used throughout. Make sure to provide a complete list of all cited references used in your answers with full bibliographic details, and cite the authors and publication years in the body of the answers.

Use double spaced text, Arial font size 12, minimum 2 cm margins (as pre-set in the submission template).

All pages must be numbered. All tables and figures must be labelled and must have self-explanatory titles.

The bibliography list should be provided at the end of each answer.

Please review carefully the slides of the three assessment sessions (available on the Blackboard module site) before you start answering the questions.

SECTION A

Answer ONE question from this section

Word limit: 1200 words

Each question carries 40 marks

Question A1

While the existence of electoral cycles in fiscal policies has been a topic of extensive theoretical development, important inconsistencies in the support lent by empirical research remain. Some political economists argue that electoral cycles in fiscal   policies should only be observed in developing countries or in new democracies. Others argue that the emergence of such cycles has become a less common phenomenon in recent years. Do you agree with these arguments? Write a short  essay that reviews empirical studies related to this topic and answers the specific question asked.

Question A2

Many political economists argue that changes in economic security, caused by a steep rise in globalisation and immigration, can engender a sense of anger among citizens and lead to “protest votes”. What are the key mechanisms underlying this argument? What are the empirical challenges of identifying the impact of each one of these factors (globalisation and immigration) on economic and political outcomes?

Write a short essay that highlights specific works that have advanced our understanding of this topic and answers the specific questions asked.

SECTION B

Answer ONE question from this section

Word limit: 1800 words

Each question carries 60 marks

Question B1

Write a short empirical report on the impact of government ideology (partisanship) on fiscal policies. Make sure to motivate clearly the choice of the fiscal policy variable(s) that will be used in your report.

Question B2

Write a short empirical report on the impact of constitutions on the size of government or rent extraction. Your report should focus on one constitutional feature (electoral rules or forms of government) and one of the two outcomes.