Honour School of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics

Differences from 2015/16 to 2020/21

A

  • 1. The subject of the Honour School of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics shall be the study of modern philosophy, and of the political and economic principles and structure of modern society.

  • 2. Candidates must offer Philosophy, Politics, and Economics or such combination of these subjects as may be determined by the Division of Social Sciences.

  • 3.  No candidate shall be admitted to examination in this school unless hethey or she hashave passed or been exempted from the first Public Examination.

  • 4. The examination for this school shall be under the joint supervision of the Social Sciences Board and the Humanities Board which shall appoint a standing joint committee to make regulations concerning it subject always to the preceding clauses of this sub-section.

B

Candidates may offer either Philosophy, Politics, and Economics or Philosophy and Politics or Politics and Economics or Philosophy and Economics.

The highest Honours can be obtained by excellence in a minority of subjects offered provided that adequate knowledge is shown throughout the examination.

Candidates must take eight subjects in all, and must satisfy requirements of particular branches of the school, including, in

In Philosophy, thosecandidates must satisfy the requirements set out in the Regulations for Philosophy in all Honour Schools including Philosophy, and, in Politics and Economics, requirements to take core subjects. 

In Politics, candidates must take any two of the core subjects: are201, any202, two203, 214 and 220. Any of 201, 202, 203, 214, and 220; in Economics the core subjects are 300, 301 and 302. In Politics, any of 201, 202, 203, 214, and 220 which are not offered as core subjects may be offered as further subjects.

In Economics, most subjects must be taken in combination with one or more of 300, 301 and 302 (see the Schedule in the List of Subjects for details).

On entering his or hertheir name for the examination by the date prescribed, each candidate must give notice to the Registrar of the papers being offered.

For all Economics papers candidates are permitted the use of one hand-held pocket calculator from a list of permitted calculators published annually by the Department of Economics on its undergraduate website, which will be updated annually in the week prior to the first full week of Michaelmas Term.

  • A. Philosophy, Politics, and Economics.

    Candidates must take (i)  one  of subjects 101, 102, 115, and 116, and (ii) subject 103, any two of subjects 300, 301, and 302 and(iii) any two of 201, 202, 203, 214, and 220, and (iv) at least two subjects in Economics.

  • Their other two subjects may be chosen freely from those listed under Philosophy and, under Politics, and under Economics, except that (i) if any subjects in Economics are chosen they must include the third core subject; (ii) certain combinations of subjects may not be offered (see List of Subjects below); and (iiiii) not all Economics subjects may be available in any particular year (see below for details). There may also be restrictions on numbers permitted to offer some Economics subjects in any particular year.

  • B. Philosophy and Politics.

    Candidates must take (i) one   of subjects 101, 102, 115, and 116, and (ii) subject 103, and (iii) any two of 201, 202, 203, 214, and 220.

    Their other four subjects may be chosen freely from those listed under Philosophy and under Politics, except that (i) at least one must be a subject in Philosophy and the Regulations for Philosophy in all Honour Schools including Philosophy must be adhered to; (ii) at least one must be a further subject in Politics (other than the thesis (or the supervised dissertation) if offered); (iii) one but only one may be a subject in Economics, selected from the following list: 300, 301, 302, 311, (iiiiv) certain combinations of subjects may not be offered (see List of Subjects below).

  • C. Politics and Economics.

    Candidates must take subjects 300, 301, and 302 and(i) any two of 201, 202, 203, 214, and 220, and (ii) at least three subjects in Economics.

  • Their other three subjects may be chosen freely from those listed under Politics and under Economics except that (i) at least one must be a further subject in Politics (other than the thesis (or the supervised dissertation) if offered); (ii) one but only one may be a subject in Philosophy; (iii) certain combinations of subjects may not be offered (see List of Subjects below); (iv) not all Economics subjects may be available in any particular year (see below for details). There may also be restrictions on numbers permitted to offer some Economics subjects in any particular year. 

  • D. Philosophy and Economics.

    Candidates must take (i)  one  of subjects 101, 102, 115, and 116, and (ii) subjectssubject 103, 300, 301, and 302(iii) at least three subjects in Economics.

  • Their other three subjects may be chosen freely from those listed under Philosophy and under Economics, except that (i) at least one must be a subject in Philosophy and the Regulations for Philosophy in all Honour Schools including Philosophy must be adhered to; (ii) one but only one may be a subject in Politics, selected from the following list: 201, 202, 214, 215, 216, 217, 220, 229; (iii) certain combinations of subjects may not be offered (see List of Subjects below); (iv) not all Economics subjects may be available in any particular year (see below for details). There may also be restrictions on numbers permitted to offer some Economics subjects in any particular year.

List of Subjects

Certain combinations of further subjects may not be offered: in parentheses after the title of each further subject is the number of any other subject or subjects with which it may not be combined. The syllabuses for the subjects in this List are given in Regulations for Philosophy in all Honour Schools including Philosophy or in the schedule below.

Philosophy

  • 101. Early Modern Philosophy

  • 102. Knowledge and Reality

  • 103. Ethics

  • 104. Philosophy of Mind

  • 106. Philosophy of Science and Social Science (105, 124)

  • 107. Philosophy of Religion

  • 108. The Philosophy of Logic and Language

  • 109. Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Criticism

  • 110. Medieval Philosophy: Aquinas (111)

  • 111. Medieval Philosophy: Duns Scotus, Ockham (110)

  • 112. The Philosophy of Kant

  • 113. Post-Kantian Philosophy

  • 114. Theory of Politics  (150, 203)

  • 115. Plato Republic

  • 116. Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics

  • 117. Frege, Russell, and Wittgenstein (118)

  • 118. The Later Philosophy of Wittgenstein (117)

  • 120. Intermediate Philosophy of Physics

  • 122. Philosophy of Mathematics

  • 124. Philosophy of Science (105, 106)

  • 125. Philosophy of Cognitive Science

  • 127. Philosophical Logic

  • 128. Practical Ethics

  • 129. The Philosophy of Wittgenstein

  • 137. Plato on Knowledge, Language, & Reality in the Theaetetus & Sophist (in translation)

    138. Aristotle on Nature, Life and Mind (in translation)

  • 139. Knowledge and Scepticism in Hellenistic Philosophy (in translation)

    150. Jurisprudence (114, 203)

  • 198. Special Subjects

  • 199. Thesis (298, 299, 399)

Politics (including Sociology)

Candidates should note that the Politics subjects available in any particular year will depend on the availability of teaching resources. Not all subjects will be available in every year and restrictions may be placed on the number of candidates permitted to offer certain subjects in any particular year.

  • 201. Comparative Government

  • 202. British Politics and Government since 1900

  • 203. Theory of Politics  (114, 150)

  • 204. Modern British Government and Politics

  • 205. Government and Politics of the United States

  • 206. Politics in Europe

  • 207. Politics in Russia and the Former Soviet Union

  • 208. Politics in Sub-Saharan Africa

  • 209. Politics in Latin America

  • 210. Politics in South Asia

  • 211. Politics in the Middle East

  • 212. International Relations in the Era of Two World Wars

  • 213. International Relations in the Era of the Cold War

  • 214. International Relations

  • 215. Political Thought: Plato to Rousseau

  • 216. Political Thought: Bentham to Weber

  • 217. Marx and Marxism

  • 218. Sociological Theory

  • 219. The Sociology of Post-Industrial Societies

  • 220. Political Sociology

  • 222. Labour Economics and Industrial RelationsInequality (307)

  • 223. The Government and Politics of Japan

  • 224. Social Policy

  • 225. Comparative Demographic Systems

  • 226. Quantitative Methods in Politics and Sociology 

  • 227. Politics in China

  • 228. The Politics of the European Union

  • 229. Advanced Paper in Theories of Justice

  • 230. Comparative Political Economy

  • 297. Special subject in Politics

  • 298. Supervised dissertation (199, 299, 399)

  • 299. Thesis (199, 298, 399)

Economics

NotSubjects all300, Economics301, 302, and 311 must be studied in the first year of the candidate’s enrolment for the Honour School. The rest of the subjects may only be offeredstudied in anythe particularsecond year. Thereof maythe alsocandidate’s beenrolment restrictionsfor onthe numbersHonour permitted to offer some Economics subjects in any particular yearSchool.

Economics subjects available to candidates in any particular year will depend on the availability of teaching resources. Details of the choices available for the followingsecond year of the Final Honour School will be announced at the Economics Department's Options Fair at the beginning of the fourth week of the first Hilary Full Term of candidates' work for the Honour School, and will be posted on the Department's undergraduate web-site at the same time.

Not all Economics subjects may be available in any particular year. There may also be restrictions on numbers permitted to offer some Economics subjects in any particular year.

More than one Special Subject in Economics (paper 398) may be offered.

  • 300. Quantitative Economics

  • 301. Macroeconomics

  • 302. Microeconomics

  • 303. Microeconomic Analysis

  • 304. Money and Banking

  • 305. Public Economics

     
  • 306. Economics of Industry

  • 307. Labour Economics and Industrial Relations (222)

  • 308. International Economics

  • 310. Economics of Developing Countries

  • 311. BritishDevelopment Economicof Historythe World Economy since 1870 1800

  • 314. Econometrics

  • 318. Finance

  • 319. Game Theory

  • 320. Behavioural and Experimental Economics

     
  • 321. The Philosophy and Economics of the Environment

  • 398.   Special subjectsubjects in Economics

  • 399. Thesis (199, 298, 299)

Schedule

The schedule of subjects in Philosophy is given in the Regulations for Philosophy in all Honour Schools including Philosophy

  • 201. Comparative Government

    Candidates are required to show knowledge of theories and methods of comparison in empirical political analysis, including both quantitative and qualitative approaches, and their application to specific problems. The course will include the study of (i) regimes and states; (ii) institutions; and (iii) political actors. Candidates may select any combination of questions in the examination. Topics in the area of regimes and states will include: state-building; colonial legacies; structural and actor-based explanations of democratization processes; institutional and legitimacy-rooted variation across hybrid and autocratic regimes; the outcomes of different regimes. Topics in the area of institutions will include: constitutional design and constitutional practice under different regime styles; executives and legislatures; judiciaries; bureaucracies; structures, purposes and consequences of devolved power; and variations in and consequences of electoral systems. Topics in the area of political actors will include: the origin of parties; the explanation of party-system variation and the causes of party-system change; interest groups and social movements, and their interaction with parties and government; the nature of political activism. Where appropriate, candidates must demonstrate an understanding of casual inference and causal mechanisms, and of associated problems of selection, endogeneity, and interaction effects.

  • 202. British Politics and Government since 1900

    British politics (including the major domestic political crises, ideologies and political issues) and the evolution of the British political and constitutional system (including elections and the electoral system, political parties, parliament, the cabinet system, and machinery of government). Political issues will be taken to include the political implications of social and economic development and the domestic implications of foreign and imperial policy. Candidates will be expected to show knowledge of developments both before and since 1951.

  • 203. Theory of Politics1

    The critical study of political values and of the concepts used in political analysis and methods and approaches in political theory. Topics may include: theideal concepttheory ofand the politicalrealism; power, authority, and related concepts; the stateliberty; law; liberty and rights; justice and; equality; public interest and common good; democracy and representation; political obligation and civil disobedience; ideologyneutrality and perfectionism; liberalism,libertarianism; multiculturalism; socialism,; and conservatism. 

  • 204. Modern British Government and Politics

    A study of the structure, powers, and operations of modern British Government, including its interaction with the European Union: the Crown, Ministers, Parliament, elections, parties and pressure groups, the legislative process; Government departments, agencies, and regulatory bodies; local authorities; administrative jurisdiction and the Courts. Candidates will be expected to show familiarity with certain prescribed documents, a schedule of which may be revised annually. Any revisions to the schedule shall apply only to candidates taking the Final Honour School five terms hence, and if no proposals for revising the schedule have been received by noon on Friday of Week One of Hilary Term, the previous year's list shall stand. The revised schedule will be displayed on the PPE syllabus notice-board at the Department of Politics and International Relations, Manor Road Building, and on the Department's website.

  • 205. Government and Politics of the United States

    The constitution; federalism and separation of powers; the presidency; congress; the federal courts; the federal bureaucracy; parties and the party system; electoral politics; mass media; interest groups; state and local politics; processes of policy-formation and implementation; political culture.

  • 206 Politics in Europe

    This paper is a comparative study of the national party and institutional systems of Europe, and of comparative issues in European politics, including democratisation, institutional relations, political economy and party politics. Candidates are expected to show a broad knowledge of European politics, and may where appropriate include reference to the UK in answers, but should not answer any question mainly or exclusively with reference to the UK.

  • 207. Politics in Russia and the Former Soviet Union

    Candidates will be required to show knowledge of the transformation of the Soviet system from 1985, and an understanding of the politics of countries of the former Soviet Union with respect to their formation, post-Soviet transitions, regime types, institutional arrangements, party systems, electoral processes, ethnic and clan composition, political economy, corruption, and the influence of external factors.

  • 208. Politics in Sub-Saharan Africa

    Candidates will be required to show knowledge of the politics of the countries of sub-Saharan Africa with respect to their political institutions, political sociology, and political economy. The following topics may be considered: nationalism; forms of government, civilian and military; parties and elections; conditions for democracy; class, ethnicity, religion, and gender; business, labour, and peasantries; structural adjustment and agricultural policies; the influence of external agencies.

  • 209. Politics in Latin America

    Candidates will be required to show knowledge of politics in Latin America; of the structure of government of the major states of the area; and of their political sociology and political economy. The following topics may be considered: presidential systems; the role of congress; public administration; party and electoral systems; the politics of major groups such as the military, trade unions and business groups, and the churches; political ideologies; political movements; the politics of economic stabilization; the politics of gender; theories of regime breakdown, and of democratic transition and consolidation; the influence of external factors.

  • 210. Politics in South Asia

    Candidates will be expected to show knowledge of political developments in South Asian countries since their independence, with regard to their political institutions, political sociology, and political economy. The following topics may be considered: the nature of the state; government and political institutions; party and electoral systems; politics in the provinces or states of a federation; the evolution of political ideologies; the politics of gender, caste, religion, language, ethnic regionalism, and national integration; the political economy of development, social change, and class relations; New social movements and Left politics; regional conflicts in South Asia and the influence of external factors on South Asian politics. South Asia is taken to include India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.

  • 211. Politics in the Middle East

    Candidates will be expected to show knowledge of the politics of the Middle East with regard to their political institutions, political sociology, and political economy. The following topics may be considered: the emergence of the state system in the modern Middle East; the influence of colonialism and nationalism in its development; the military in state and politics; party systems and the growth of democratic politics; the politics of religion; women in the political sphere; the influence of major inter-state conflicts and external factors on internal politics. The Middle East is taken to comprise Iran, Israel, Turkey, and the Arab States.

  • 212. International Relations in the Era of Two World Wars

    The relations between the major powers; the twentieth-century origins of the First World War and the origins of the Second World War; war aims, strategies, and peace-making; the disintegration of war-time alliances; the League of Nations and the establishment of the United Nations; the impact of major political movements (Communism, Fascism, nationalism) on international society; monetary and economic developments as they affected international politics.

    Knowledge of events before 1900 and after 1947 will not be demanded, nor will questions be set on extra-European developments before 1914.

  • 213. International Relations in the Era of the Cold War

    The relations among the major powers, 1945-91, including domestic and external factors shaping foreign policy; the origins and course of the cold war, including detente and the end of the cold war; East-West relations in Europe with particular reference to the foreign policies of France and the Federal Republic of Germany; European integration; the external relations of China and Japan, particularly with the Soviet Union and the United States; the Soviet Union's relations with Eastern Europe; decolonization and conflict in the developing world.

  • 214.  International Relations 

    The primarytopics topicscovered in this paper will be:include theclassical competingand critical approaches to the study of international relations; globalinternational governancelaw; power; postcolonialism and the world economyEmpire; andglobalisation, global governance and security.international Otherco-operation; topicstheories willof include:war and peace, and the domestic determinants of foreign policy; international law;organisations regionaland organizations; economic integration; globalizationsecurity; ethnic, national, and cultural sources of insecurity; power, interdependence, and dependencyconflict. Candidates will be required to illustrate their answers with contemporary or historical material. They will be expected to know the major developments in international affairs from 1990 onwards, and to cite these wherever appropriate. They may also be given the opportunity to show knowledge of earlier developments; but questions referring specifically to events before 1990 will not be set.

  • 215. Political Thought: Plato to Rousseau

    The critical study of political thought from Plato to Rousseau. Candidates will be expected to show knowledge of at least three of the following authors, with a primary though not necessarily exclusive focus on the following texts: Plato, The Republic; Aristotle, Politics; Aquinas: Political Writings, ed. R. W. Dyson 2002; Machiavelli, The Prince, The Discourses ed. Plamenatz 1972; Hobbes Leviathan Parts I and II; Locke, Second Treatise of Civil Government; Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws, Books I-VIII, XI, XII, XIX; Hume, Moral and Political Writings ed. Aiken 1948; Rousseau, Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, The Social Contract. Questions will also be set on the following topics: theories of political stability and civic virtue; the relationship between the personal and the political; utopian political thought; theories of natural law and justice. In answering examination questions, candidates are expected to discuss the primary texts identified in this rubric, but may also draw on their knowledge of a range of other primary texts from the canon of political thought to the end of the eighteenth century, as indicated in the bibliography issued by the Department of Politics and International Relations.

  • 216. Political Thought: Bentham to Weber

    The critical study of political and social thought from Bentham to Weber. Candidates will be expected to show knowledge of at least three of the following authors, with a primary though not necessarily exclusive focus on the following texts: Bentham, Political Thought ed. Parekh; J. S. Mill, On Liberty, essays The Spirit of the Age, Civilization, Bentham, Coleridge; Hegel, The Philosophy of Right, Lectures on the Philosophy of World History (Introduction) (CUP edn.); Saint-Simon, Selected Writings 1760-1825, ed. Taylor 1975; Tocqueville, Democracy in America - Everyman edition (Vol. I: Introduction, chapters 2-6, the last section of chapter 8, chapters 11, 12, the first section of chapter 13, chapters 14-17; Vol II: Book II, chapters 1-8, 16-20, Book III, chapters 1, 2, 13-21, Book IV, chapters 1-8); Marx, Selected Writings, ed. McLellan, nos. 6-8, 13, 14, 18, 19, 22, 23, 25, 30, 32, 37-40; Weber, From Max Weber, eds. Gerth and Mills; Durkheim, The Division of Labour in Society (Prefaces, Introduction, Book I, chapters 1-3, 7; Book 2, chapters 1, 3; Book 3, chapters 1, 2; Conclusion), Professional Ethics and Civic Morals, chapters 4-9. Questions will also be set on the following topics: state, society, and the family; individual and community; history and social change; science and religion. In answering examination questions candidates are expected to discuss the primary texts identified in this rubric, but may also draw on their knowledge of other primary texts from the canon of modern social and political thought, as indicated in the bibliography issued by the Department of Politics and International Relations.

  • 217. Marx and Marxism

    The study of the ideas of Marx and Engels, of later Marxists and critics of Marxism. Candidates will be expected to study Marxism as an explanatory theory, and also to examine its political consequences. They will be required to show knowledge of the relevant primary texts as specified in the bibliography issued by the Department of Politics and International Relations. Questions will also be set on some later Marxists, as indicated in the bibliography.

  • 218. Sociological Theory

    Theoretical perspectives includingwhich may include rational choice; evolutionary psychology; interpersonal interaction; social integration and networks; functionalism. Substantive problems includingwhich may include stratification; gender; nationalism; race and ethnicity; collective action; norms; ideology; economic development; gangs and organised crime. Candidates will be expected to use theories to explain substantive problems.

  • 219. The Sociology of Post-Industrial Societies

    Candidates will be expected to show knowledge of the following aspects of the social structure of urban-industrial societies: occupation and economic structure; social stratification and mobility; education; the social significance of gender and ethnicity; demography and the family; the social structure of religion; and the impact on society of the state and politics. They must show knowledge of modern Britain and at least one other industrial society, and of the main general theories of industrial society.

  • 220. Political Sociology

    The study of the social basis of political competition (including social cleavages and identities), social and political attitudes (including political culture), processes of political engagement and competition (including elections, protest politics, elite formation and the mass media), the social basis for the formation, change, and maintenance of political institutions (including democracy and welfare states).

  • 222.  Labour Economics and Industrial RelationsInequality

    As specified forby 307the belowDepartment of Economics at the Options Fair.

  • 223. The Government and Politics of Japan

    The constitutional framework and structure of government; parliamentary and local politics; the electoral and party systems; the role of corporate interests and pressure groups; the bureaucracy; foreign policy. Candidates will be expected to show knowledge of Japanese political history since 1945 and of the social context of Japanese political institutions and policy-making.

  • 224. Social Policy

    The nature and development of social policy and welfare states.; Publicpublic, private and informal systems of welfare.; Alternativewelfare definitionsregime typologies; and explanationsanalysis of povertysocial and deprivationpolicy. The sources, growthdevelopment, organisation and outcomes of British social policy, with speciala referencefocus toon health,a housing,number socialof security,issues and educationpolicy areas from a selection as published in the course handbook.

  • 225. Comparative Demographic Systems

    Candidates will be expected to show knowledge of controversies in demographic theory (Malthus and his critics, Easterlin, Caldwell, the New Home Economics school and others) and to illustrate their answers with varied and specific examples. The paper will comprise two sections. Section 1 will test the candidate's ability to interpret quantitative results and the methods of demographic analysis. Section 2 will test the candidate's knowledge of substantive trends and their explanation. Candidates will be required to answer three questions, one from Section 1 and two from Section 2.

    • I Demographic analysis and techniques: data sources, adequacy and remedies. Statistical analysis of fertility, mortality, and other demographic phenomena. The life table, stable population, and other models of population structure and growth. Population dynamics, projections and simulations.

    • II Demographic trends and explanations. Limits to fertility and the lifespan. Contrasts between stable and transitional population systems in historical European and current non-European societies: the decline of mortality, fertility patterns in relation to systems of household formation, kin organization and risk environments, marital fertility decline and the current status of transition theory. Social, economic, and political consequences of rapid population growth at the national level and the local level.

    • Demographic systems in post-transitional societies (modern Europe and other industrial areas): low fertility, trends in health and survival, and age structure change; their economic and social causes and consequences. New patterns of marriage and family, women in the workforce, labour migration and the demography of ethnic minorities, population policies.

  • 226. Quantitative Methods in Politics and Sociology

    Candidates will be expected to show an understanding of applications of quantitative methods in politics and sociology including the following: the principles of research design in social science: data collection, the logic of casual inference, and comparative method; major statistical methods and concepts: types of random variables, independence, correlation and association, sampling theory, hypothesis testing, linear and non-linear regression models, event-history analysis, and time-series. Candidates will also be expected to interpret information and show familiarity with major methodological debates in politics and sociology.

  • 227. Politics in China

    Candidates will be required to show knowledge of the government and politics of China since 1949, and with particular reference to the period since 1978, with respect to its political institutions, political sociology, and political economy. The following topics may be considered: the Communist party and its structure, urban and rural reform since 1978, foreign relations, nationalism, elite politics, gender, legal culture, and the politics of Hong Kong and Taiwan.

  • 228. The Politics of the European Union

    This paper focuses on the study of the history, institutions, and policy processes of the European Union. It includes analysis of the history and theories of the European integration process. Candidates are expected to show knowledge of politics of the European Union, including the main institutions of the EU, decision making procedures and specific policies, as well as relations between the EU and the rest of the world. The paper also focuses on democracy in the European Union and the impact of European integration on the domestic politics and policies of the member states.

  • 229. Advanced Paper in Theories of Justice

    Theories of justice often focus on adults who lack any disabilities and are in good health, who live in a single society with no history of injustice and who are contemporaries. This paper aims to examine the questions that arise when we broaden the focus of justice beyond these confines and consider how to apply principles of justice to real world policy questions. In particular, it examines what principles of justice should apply with respect to (i) future generations; (ii) historic injustice; (iii) global politics and those who are not co-citizens or co-nationals; (iv) those with disabilities; and  (v) children; (vi) health care; and (vii) unconditional basic income policy.

  • 230. Comparative Political Economy

    The study of comparative political economy examines the relationship between politics and economics across nations. Candidates will be required to show both theoretical and empirical knowledge of this relationship, drawing on the texts from the course reading list. In addition, candidates are expected to draw on multiple countries in their work. Students should demonstrate their knowledge from the course by engaging with the paper’s central themes, namely: i) the balance struck between economic efficiency and social inequality across countries; ii) the historical development of national political and economic institutions; iii) comparisons of how nations differently organise their market economies and administer welfare provision; iv) the politics of economic performance, redistribution and inequality; v) the extent to which the political economies of both economically developed democracies and large developing economies are presently changing.

  • 297. Special Subject in Politics

    Special Subjects will be examined by examination paper. No candidate may offer more than one Special Subject. Depending on the availability of teaching resources, not all Special Subjects will be available to all candidates in every year. Candidates may obtain details of the choice of Special Subjects for the following year by consulting lists posted at the beginning of the fourth week of Hilary Term in the Department of Politics and International Relations and circulated to Politics tutors at colleges admitting undergraduates.

  • 298. Supervised dissertation22

    With the approval of the Undergraduate Studies Committee, members of staff willing to supervise a research topic shall through the Undergraduate Studies Coordinator / Courses Team of the Department of Politics and International Relations  circulate by e-mail not later than Friday of fourth week of Hilary Term a short description of an area of politics (including international relations and sociology) in which they have a special interest, a list of possible dissertation topics lying within that area, an introductory reading list, and a time and place at which they will meet those interested in writing a dissertation under their supervision for assessment in the following year's examination. Members of staff agreeing to supervise an undergraduate shall provide him or her with tutorials or intercollegiate classes equivalent to a term's teaching for a normal paper, the cost of such tutorials or classes to be met by the college. They shall notify the colleges of the undergraduates involved and the Undergraduate Studies Coordinator of the Department of Politics and International Relations and report the provisional title to the Undergraduate Studies Coordinator by the second week of Hilary Term in the year of examination. Candidates offering a thesis (199, 299, or 399) may not also offer a supervised dissertation. The regulations governing the length, the format, and the time, date and place of submission of a supervised dissertation shall be the same as those for the thesis. Every candidate who wishes to submit a supervised dissertation shall give notice of his or her intention to do so to the Registrar on his or her examination entry form. Every candidate shall sign a certificate to the effect that the supervised dissertation is his or her own work and that it has not already been submitted, wholly or substantially, for another Honour School of this University or for a degree of any other institution. The supervisor(s) shall countersign the certificate confirming that to the best of his, her or their knowledge and belief these statements are true, and shall also submit a short statement of the supervision provided, together with the original specification of the research topic and any other course material provided. The candidate's certificate and the supervisor's or supervisors' statements shall be presented together with the supervised dissertation. Candidates are warned that they should avoid repetition in papers of material in their supervised dissertation and that substantial repetition may be penalized. Every candidate who wishes to have his or her supervised dissertation returned is required to enclose with the thesis, in an envelope bearing only his or her candidate number, a self-addressed sticky label.

  • 299. Thesis

    As specified for 399 below.

  • 300. Quantitative Economics

  • Statistical and causal inference. Multivariate regression analysis. Testing and interpretation of regression results. Empirical applications and interpretation of current and recent literature in a number of areas of empirical economics.

  • 301. Macroeconomics

    Macroeconomic theories and their policy implications; macroeconomic shocks and fluctuations; unemployment and inflation; exchange rates; interest rates and the current account; intertemporal adjustment, growth theory; monetary and fiscal policy.

    The paper will be set in two parts. Candidates will be required to answer questions from both parts. Part A will consist of short questions and Part B will consist of longer questions.

  • 302. Microeconomics

    Risk, expected utility theory; welfare economics and general equilibrium, public goods and externalities; game theory and industrial organisation; information economics; applications of microeconomics.

    The paper will be set in two parts. Candidates will be required to answer questions from both parts. Part A will consist of short questions and Part B will consist of longer questions.

  • 303. Microeconomic Analysis

  • The course will introduce and develop some key elements of microeconomic analysis along with their mathematical foundations. These topics may (but will not necessarily) include: Principal-Agent problems, General Equilibrium (with uncertainty), Asset pricing. A descriptive list of the topics will be published on the Economics website by the beginning of the year in which the course is taught and examined.

  • It will be assumed that students have mathematical fluency in: sets and sequences, functions of one variable, differentiation and integration.

  • 304. Money and Banking

    The role of money in general equilibrium models. Aggregate models of price and output fluctuations. The role of banks and other financial intermediaries. Models of monetary policy. Inflation targeting and other policy regimes. Money and public finance. The transmission of monetary policy to asset prices and exchange rates.

  • 305.Candidates Publicoffering Economics

    Welfarethis measurementsubject andmust cost-benefitalso analysis,offer with301 applications to healthcare and the environment; taxes and transfers; optimal income and commodity taxation, and intertemporal public finance including pensions provision; government expenditure, including healthcare and education; political economics(Macroeconomics).

  • 306. Economics of Industry

    Market structures, costs and scale economies, oligopoly and the theory of games, entry, empirical studies of pricing and profitability, advertising, product differentiation, managerial theories of the firm, mergers and vertical integration, innovation, public policy towards market structure and conduct, regulation.

    Candidates will be expected to show knowledge of empirical studies relating to one or more of the advanced industrial economies, but questions relating to specific industrial economies will not be set.

  • 307. Labour Economics and Industrial Relations3

    The analysis of labour markets from both microeconomic and macroeconomic perspectives; collective bargaining and trade unions; personnel economics; the economics of education and human capital; wage determination and inequality.

  • 308. International Economics

    Theories of international trade and factor movements, positive and normative, and their application to economic policy and current problems. Theory and practice of economic integration. Current problems of the international trading system. Methods of balance of payments adjustment and financing; policies for attaining internal and external balance. Behaviour of floating exchange rates: theory and evidence. Optimum Currency Areas and Exchange Rate Regimes. International Policy Co-ordination and the International Monetary System.

  • 310. Economics of Developing Countries

  • This course applies economic theory, combined with evidence from empirical studies, to analyse some of the main economic issues in the economies of developing countries. A representative list of topics is as follows: Poverty and inequality; growth and development; coordination failures and under-development; international trade, capital flows, and development; human capital, health and education; labour and migration; credit markets; market failure and government failure; political economy.

  • 311.Candidates Britishoffering Economicthis Historysubject sincemust 1870

    Trendsalso offer 300 (Quantitative Economics) and cycles302 in national income, factor supplies, and productivity; changes in the structure of output, employment, and capital; management and entrepreneurship; the location of industries, industrial concentration, and the growth of large firms; prices, interest rates, money, and public finance; wages, unemployment, trade unions, and the working of the labour market; the distribution of incomes, poverty, and living standards; foreign trade, tariffs, international capital movements, and sterling; Government economic policy in peace and war.

    Questions concerned exclusively with the periods before 1900 or after 1973 will not be set(Microeconomics).

  • 311. Development of the World Economy since 1800

  • Economic development of the major regions of the world: Europe, Asia, the Americas, Africa, Oceania. The proximate sources of growth: first and second nature geography, institutions and the state. The consequences of growth: living standards, inequality and consumption. International transactions: real trade and factor flows, finance. Warfare and empire.

  • 314. Econometrics

  • A variety of econometric topics will be covered, drawn from the following list: maximum likelihood, endogeneity and instrumental variables, unit roots and cointegration, limited dependent variable models, duration models and panel data models. Application of the introduced econometric methods to economic problems will also be discussed.

  • A descriptive list of the topics will be published on the Economics website before the beginning of the year in which the course is taught and examined.

  • 318.Candidates Finance

    Asoffering specifiedthis insubject Papermust 3,also Finance,offer in300 the Honour School of(Quantitiative Economics and Management).

  • 319. Game Theory

    Strategic-form games and extensive-form games. Solution concepts. Games with incomplete information. Applications and topics which may (but not necessarily) include bargaining, auctions, global games, evolutionary games, co-operative games, learning, games in political science.

    The paper will be set in two parts. Candidates will be required to show knowledge on both parts of the paper.

    • Part A. Questions will be set requiring candidates to solve problems involving the core elements of game theory.

    • Part B. Questions will be set requiring candidates to solve problems in and show knowledge of specific applications and topics in game theory.

  • 320.Candidates Behaviouraloffering andthis Experimentalsubject Economics

  • Heuristicsmust andalso biases,offer social302 preferences, reference-dependent preferences, bounded will-power, honesty, mental accounting, level-k reasoning. The design and analysis of laboratory and field experiments, incentives, ethics, testing theories, identification of treatment effects, internal/external validity, statistical power calculation(Microeconomics).

    • (a) Assessment

    • Behavioural and Experimental Economics will be examined by an assessed extended essay. Candidates will design, conduct and analyse a field or laboratory experiment and write an extended essay on their research, including the research question, design and results of the experiment.

    • Every essay shall be the candidate’s own work. The experiment, however, can be designed and conducted jointly by several candidates. The group composition and the design of the experiment must be agreed with the candidates’ tutor. The tutor may discuss with the candidates the research question, the previous literature, and the design, implementation and analyses of the experiment. The amount of assistance that may be given is equivalent to the teaching of a normal paper. All experiment designs must be submitted for ethical approval to the Research Ethics Committee of the Department of Economics.

    • (b) Authorship and origin

    • No essay shall exceed 7,500 words, the limit to include all notes and appendices, but not bibliographies and experimental instructions. Candidates should include a select bibliography at the end of the essay. All instructions used during the experiment, including screen-shots if the experiment is conducted via computer, should be documented in an appendix. Footnotes have to be placed at the bottom of the relevant pages; citations have to be placed in the text.

    • (c) Submission of assessed work

    • Candidates shall submit their essay not later than noon on Thursday of Week 0 of Trinity Full Term of the examination in electronic format via WebLearn.

  • 321. The Philosophy and Economics of the Environment (126)3 [NB: This paper may not be taken by bipartite Politics and Philosophy candidates.]

  • Philosophical foundations: justice and goodness, theories of value; decision-making under uncertainty. Economics foundations: externalities, public goods, international environmental agreements. Politics and the environment. Inter-generational ethics, discounting. The choice of instruments: taxes, permits and command-and-control; environmental instruments in practice. Valuing human life. Valuing nature. Cost-benefit analysis: foundations and critiques; valuation methods.

    398.  Special SubjectSubjects in Economics

  • Special Subjects will be examined  either by examination paper ofor assessed essay. No candidate may offer more than one Special Subject. The list of Special Subjects will be published by the Department of Economics at its Options Fair at the beginning of the fourth week of the first Hilary Full Term of candidates work for the Honour School, and will be posted on the Department's undergraduate web-site at the same time. Most special subjects may only be taken in combination with one or more of 300, 301, and 302. Depending on the availability of teaching resources, not all Special Subjects will be available in every year. There may be no Special Subjects offered in a particular year.

  • 399. Thesis

    • (a) Subject

      The subject of every thesis should fall within the scope of the Honour School. The subject may but need not overlap any subject on which the candidate offers papers. Candidates are warned that they should avoid repetition in papers of material used in their theses and that substantial repetition may be penalized.

      Every candidate shall submit through his or her college for approval to the Director of Undergraduate Studies for Politics and International Relations, or the Director of Undergraduate Studies for Economics, as appropriate, the title he or she proposes together with

      • (i) an indication as to the branch of the school in which the subject falls, e.g. Economics;

      • (ii) an explanation of the subject in about 100 words;

      • (iii) a letter of approval from his or her thesis tutor;

      not earlier than the first day of the Trinity Full Term of the year before that in which he or she is to be examined and not later than the date prescribed for entry to the examination. The relevant chairDirector of Undergraduate Studies shall decide as soon as possible whether or not to approve the title and shall advise the candidate immediately. No decision shall be deferred beyond the end of the fifth week of Michaelmas Full Term.

      Proposals to change the title of the thesis may be made through the collegerelevant Department administrator and will be considered by the chairrelevant Director of Undergraduate Studies of the relevant sub-faculty until the first day of the Hilary Full Term of the year in which the student is to be examined, and by the relevant chair of the examiners thereafter.

    • (b) Authorship and origin

      Every thesis shall be the candidate's own work. His or her thesis tutor may, however, discuss with him or her the field of study, the sources available, and the method of presentation; the thesis tutor may also read and comment on a first draft. The amount of assistance that may be given is equivalent to the teaching of a normal paper. Theses previously submitted for the Honour School of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics may be resubmitted. No thesis will be accepted if it has already been submitted, wholly or substantially, for another Honour School or degree of this University, or for a degree of any other institution. Every candidate shall sign a certificate to the effect that the thesis is his or her own work and that it has not already been submitted, wholly or substantially, for another Honour School or degree of this University, or for a degree of any other institution. This certificate shall be presented together with the thesis. No thesis shall, however, be ineligible because it has been or is being submitted for any prize of this University.

    • (c) Length and format

      No thesis shall exceed 15,000 words,. theCandidate limitshould refer to include all notes and appendices, but not bibliographies; no person or body shall have authority to permit any excess. There shall be a select bibliography or a list of sources. All theses must be typed in double spacing on one side of quarto or A4 paper. Any notes and references may be placed either at the bottom of the relevant pagesDepartment orfor allguidance togetheras atto the end of the thesisformatting, but in the latter case two loose copies of the notescontent, and referencessubmission must be supplied. The thesis must be bound or held firmly in a stiff cover. Two bound copies shall be submitted to the examiners, along with one electronic copy; they shall be returned to the candidate's college after the examinationrequirements.

    • (d) Notice of submission of thesis

      Every candidate who wishes to submit a thesis shall give notice of his or her intention to do so on his or her examination entry form (in addition to seeking approval of the subject from the relevant ChairDirector of theUndergraduate sub-faculty or head of departmentStudies under (a) above); and shall submit his or her thesis using the University approved assessment platform not later than noon on Thursday of the week before the Trinity Full Term of the examination to the Chair of the Examiners, Honour School of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, Examination Schools, High Street, Oxford. Every candidate who wishes to have his or her thesis returned is required to enclose with the thesis, in an envelope bearing only his or her candidate number, a self-addressed sticky label.