Some Political Economy "Concentrations": DRAFT

The Concentration requirement in Berkeley's Political Economy major is meant to give students the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the nature of the relationship between politics and economics as it relates to a particular issue. You are graduating with a Political Economy degree. That means you know a little about each of history, sociology, political science, economics, possibly philosophy, rhetoric, anthropology, geography or other disciplines as well. You should know a lot about something. the Concentration requirement forces you to define that something.

Each student chooses an existing or potential issue or problem in international political economy, and takes four courses bearing on that issue or problem. The courses need to inform the student's study of the Concentration topic. In a better world than this, the Concentration requirement would also include a senior honors thesis on some aspect of the Concentration topic.

The key to the Concentration requirement is that it is your own: the Concentration is self-defined. You must develop a topic that is an existing or potential issue or problem in international political economy. You then choose four courses to inform inform your view and increase your knowledge. Select courses from different departments. Note that courses listed in the PEIS Student Handbook will automatically be approved for appropriate concentration topics--but courses not listed in the handbook can be taken for the concentration: all you have to do is make the case that it is appropriate for the concentration. And, of course, no double dipping: courses taken for your concentration cannot be double-counted towards another major requirement.

Here are fifteen sample recent concentrations. Note that these are not the best possible courses offered at some Platonic Ideal of Berkeley for this concentration--these are real-world courses that students can actually get into and take for their respective concentrations:

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Democracy, Globalization, and China

• Mass Comm 102: Effects of Mass Media
• Soc 172: Development and Globalization
• Soc 183: Contemporary Chinese Society
• Poli Sci 143C: Chinese Politics
• Poli Sci 143D: Democracy and China

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The Euro

• Econ 161: International Trade
• Hist 158C: Modern Europe, 1914-Present
• Poli Sci 147H: The Domestic Politics of Postwar Western Europe
• Soc 122: Comparative Perspectives: US and Europoe
• Hist 160: The International Economy of the Twentieth Century

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The European Union: Rhetoric and Reality

• Rhet 150: Rhetoric of Contemporary Politics
• Rhet 172: Rhetoric of Social Theory
• Poli Sci 147: Western European Politics
• Hist 158C: Modern Europe: 1914-Present

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Economic Development and Human Rights

• Econ 171: Economic Development
• PS 139B: Politics of Development
• PACS: Human Rights
• Poli Sci 146AB: African Politics

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Sustainable Development

• IAS 115: Global Poverty
• ESPM 161: Environmental Philosophy and Ethics
• ESPM 167: Environmental Health and Development
• Geo 130: Natural Resources and Populations
• EEP 153: Population, Environment, and Development

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International Power: Economic, Political, and Military

• Poli Sci 124A: War
• Poli Sci 124C: Justice in International Affairs
• Econ 181: International Trade
• Poli Sci 138B: Market Economics
• EEP 152: Development and International Trade

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Political Economy of Northeast Asia

• Poli Sci 1230A: International Relations
• History 113B: Modern Korean History
• Poli Sci 128: Chinese Foreign Policy
• UGBA 118: International Trade
• Hist 118C: Japan: The Late Nineteenth Century to the Present

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Development in the Information Age

• IFS 100D: Introduction to Technology, Society, and Culture
• DS 100: Development in Theory and History
• Info 190: Technology and Poverty
• Am Stud 134: Information Technology and Society
• Poli Sci 138D: Governance of the E-conomy

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Barriers to the Delivery of health Care Services in the United States

PH 150D: Intro to Health Policy and Management ESPM 162: Bioethics and Society Econ 157: Health Economics GWS 150: Gender and Health

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Decolonization and the Political and Economic Development of the Middle East

• Hist 109C: History of the Middle East
• MES 130: Jews and Muslims
• Poli Sci 124A: Middle Eastern Politics
• Soc 172: Development and Globalization

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Behavioral Economics and Economic Planning

• Env Des 100: The City
• EEP C151: Economic Development
• Pub Pol 101: Intro to Policy Analysis
• Econ C175: Economic Demography
• CRP 118AC: Community and Economic Development

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Cosmopolitanism and International Development

• IAS 150: Cosmopolitanism
• Poli Sci 138B: The Politics of Market Economies
• UGBA 118: International Trade
• UGBA 178: Introduction to International Business
• Econ : Game Theory

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American Political and Economic Imperialism in Latin America

• LAS 150: Latin American Development and World Markets
• PACS 149: Global Change and World Order
• Anthro 139: Controlling Processes
• Hist : Latin American History

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Law, Politics, and Development in the Middle East

• Phil 115: Political Philosophy
• Leg Stud 145: Law and Economics
• Poli Sci 149C: Modernization in Iran, Turkey, and Afghanistan
• Poli Sci 139B: Development Politics

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Immigration Law and Policy

• Soc 111: Sociology of the Family
• Poli Sci 198A: Latin American Politics
• Leg Stud 176: American Legal History
• Chic Stud 159: Mexican Immigration

Comments

[Jonny]

That's very helpful, thank you. This will greatly help me in my post-final project (concentration building...no not nation building, GW says we don't do that...)

[psp]

Why only international political economy? Domestic politics and economics don't interact?

[David Guarino]

A few practical constraints from an "on the ground" perspective worth noting:

1. The fleeting accuracy of course names
While the content of Econ 100B will rarely fluctuate beyond the relative weight given to short/medium-term and long-term/growth models, this is exceedingly the exception in PEIS spectrum. Much to my (pleasant) surprise, "Rhetoric of Social Science" the semester I took it turned out to be more a genealogy of Marxist approaches to economics since the school's namesake than anything else. This means the average PEIS student can rarely predict what combination of Dept names and 3-digit numbers fit within his or her thematic constraints in a given semester. This is to say nothing of the regularity (or lack thereof) of the offered classes.

2. The shadow of regimes past
The advising staff has traditionally not accepted geographic concentrations, and many of the examples you've given appear to me to be just that. Not to say that I disagree with the notion; indeed, it may be the best "narrowing" mechanism to eventually lead to a thesis topic. BUT, you must recognize this would represent an implicit regime shift among the advising staff and likely for many of the major's stakeholders (at the very least whoever pushed for geography being insufficient in the first place).

3. The frantic irrationality of a first-week student
Let's admit it, the vast majority of undergrads choose classes based on a few main considerations: to what degree the major forces one to take it, one's first impression of a professor, what time it's at, and how interesting the material seems. In my experience, most also select in this order. It's a simple iterated optimization game for people, with the major imposing most of the constraints.

My major point (no pun) is that most students just improvise their way through it all, and to a large degree this is what PEIS is about: lower bureaucratic constraints so that intellectual utility might be more fully optimized; the flexibility to take that one Agricultural Econ class that won't ever be offered again and not have to stay a ninth semester because they let you work it into your concentration. The primary problem is this leads to thoroughly confused students - even exceedingly dedicated ones - come senior year.

All this is to say concentrations in PEIS really cannot be planned. They arise from the strange iterated game mentioned already. And that fact must be recognized, if not actively encouraged as the norm. The major should be an exploration, with each stage (lower div's, core methods, concentration, thesis) progressively narrowing in scope. Perhaps more focus ought to be given to how each stage really contributes to the student's own ability to further narrow, through increasing exposure to the methodologies he or she is interested in applying to a specific problem.

(End rant)