Understanding Political Economy: Capitalism, Democracy and Inequality
Bob Hancké, Toon Van Overbeke, and Dustin Voss
MPIfG Book
Abstract
Understanding Political Economy unpacks what political economy is and does through an investigation of its main questions and approaches. Bob Hancké, Toon Van Overbeke and Dustin Voss offer a historical and thematic review of the evolution of political-economic thought, centred on the relation between capitalism and democracy.
Chapters discuss how interests, ideas and institutions are the methodological and conceptual building blocks of political economy. The authors use these concepts to understand how markets work and why they fail, the problems facing the welfare state, the political economy of voting and democracy, and the problems of cooperation in a world of interdependent democracies. Covering the main analytical approaches that political economists have developed to tackle the complexities of this social world, the book expands on some of the most important questions confronting the field.
Understanding Political Economy is an invaluable resource for academics and students of political science, economics, and international relations. Its insights on capitalism, democracy and inequality are vital for policymakers in the field.
Contents
Preface
1 Political economy discovered
2 Capitalism and democracy
3 Interests make the world go around
4 The power of ideas in political economy
5 Institutions and the wealth of nations
6 Markets and their failures
7 The welfare state between state, market and society
8 Why are some democracies more unequal than others?
9 Coordination and cooperation in an interdependent world
Afterword
Bibliography
