The Political Economy major is designed to study the relationship between government, society, and the economy in a holistic manner from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Political Economy majors investigate how real-world market systems are embedded in both politics and society. They graduate with a mastery of a broad range of contemporary analyses as well as a deep understanding of classic works of political economy.
The study of Political Economy is both scientific, with its rigorous attention to social science methodology, and normative, with its concern for the big questions of how best to organize politics, society, and the economy. Political Economy seeks to examine the role of the state in the economy and to assess which government policies and market institutions can move us toward a better society.
The major focuses on contemporary problems while building on a strong historical foundation. Students can choose to study such topics as economic development, trade and investment, global inequality, climate change, resource distribution, gender relations, financial systems, information technology, or health policy.
Some of the issues addressed in the major and its courses include, but are not limited to:
How rising consumer demand impedes efforts to combat climate change;
How different national or subnational varieties of capitalism serve diverse priorities;
How public and private sector institutions affect economic performance;
How democratic and authoritarian political systems operate differently;
How interdependence may undermine the efforts of national governments to cope with urgent national issues such as unemployment, inflation, health, and housing;
How social, political and economic factors combine to exacerbate economic inequality both within and across countries;
How political interests can impede the pursuit of public purpose both domestically and internationally.
Declaring the Major - Political Economy is a “High-Demand Major”
Political Economy is a “High-Demand Major” with two different sets of policies predicated upon when a student was admitted to UC Berkeley and whether they entered as a first-year or transfer student.
II - All other students who declare Political Economy must meet the eligibility requirements listed below:
Must have a cumulative UC Berkeley grade point average (GPA) of 2.7 or higher.
Must have completed GLOBAL 45 or POLECON C45
with a grade of B- or higher on the first attempt. Students who repeat GLOBAL 45 or POLECON C45
in order to achieve a grade of B- or higher will not be eligible to declare the Political Economy major.
Must have completed ECON 1 or ECON 2 with a grade of C or better (may be repeated only once to achieve a grade of C or better), completed the equivalent at another college, or received AP scores of 4 or better or IB score of 5 or better on both the microeconomics and macroeconomics exams.
Must not be in their final semester of undergraduate work.
Are encouraged—but not required—to have completed at least two semesters of college-level foreign language courses or the equivalent at the time of declaring the major.
To graduate with honors from the group major in PE, students must enroll in the two-semester honors seminar, GLOBAL H102 (fall only) and POLECON H195 (spring only) and must obtain a grade point average (GPA) of 3.6 in the major and 3.5 in overall UCB coursework. All upper-division major courses will be used to calculate the major GPA. A student MUST have completed and received a grade for at least FOUR upper-division major courses to be considered for the Honors Program. The honors seminar (POLECON H195) is taken in addition to a student's regular course work for fulfilling requirements for the major and culminates in the writing of a senior thesis. To qualify for POLECON H195, students must be recommended by the GLOBAL H102 instructor. The thesis is read by the POLECON H195 instructor and at least one other faculty member who is selected by the student in consultation with the thesis instructor. Please consult a program advisor about honors eligibility.
There is no guarantee that students accepted into the honors program will graduate with honors. Honors recommendations are made after graduation and are based on a number of factors including (but not limited to) major GPA, grades received for GLOBAL H102 and POLECON H195, and faculty adviser recommendations.
Minor Program
Political Economy (PE) offers a five-course minor that is open to all undergraduates exceptPE majors. In addition to the POLECON 100 and POLECON 101 courses, students must choose a concentration topic and take three courses aligned with that topic. A list of pre-approved concentration courses and the application to declare the minor can be found on the Political Economy Minor Webpage. Students must declare the minor at least one semester before their expected graduation term. Students must email the completed and signed Completion of L&S Minor Form to the PE minor advisor in their final semester of undergraduate work.
In addition to the University, campus, and college requirements, listed on the College Requirements tab, students must fulfill the below requirements specific to their major program.
Repeat Rule
Students who earn a grade of F, D-, D, D+, or NP may repeat the course only once. Regardless of the grade the student receives for their second attempt (including F, D-, D, or D+), the student may not repeat the course a third time.
General Guidelines
All courses taken to fulfill the major requirements below must be taken for a letter grade. (The only exceptions to this rule are language courses. All language classes, including the fourth semester, may be taken for a letter grade or Pass/No Pass.)
No more than one upper division course may be used simultaneously to fulfill requirements for a student's major and minor programs, with the exception of minors offered outside of the College of Letters & Science.
A minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 must be maintained in both upper and lower division courses used to fulfill the major requirements.
GPA REQUIREMENT FOR DECLARING THE PE MAJOR
Must have a cumulative UC Berkeley grade point average (GPA) of 2.7 or higher.
For information regarding residence requirements and unit requirements, please see the College Requirements tab.
Summary of Major Requirements
Course List
Code
Title
Units
Lower Division Requirements: Three courses
Language Requirement: Proficiency equivalent to four college-level semesters
Introductory Probability and Statistics for Business
4
Foreign Language Requirement
Political Economy (PE) majors must demonstrate proficiency in a modern language other than English by the last semester of their senior year. Proficiency is equivalent to the ability achieved in four college-level semesters (or two years). Language courses taken in high school do not satisfy this requirement. See below for details on how to fulfill the foreign language requirement.
Languages accepted by the College of Letters & Science are not automatically accepted by the Political Economy program. Please check with a PE adviser for eligible languages.
There are a variety of ways to fulfill the four-semester language requirement for PE depending on the individual and their background and ability.
Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) test: An AP score of 5 or an International Baccalaureate (IB) score of 7 will complete this requirement. An AP score of 4 will place a student into the fourth-semester college-level course. A score of 3 will place a student into the third-semester college-level course. Documentation of AP scores must be provided.
Coursework: Any combination of college courses, summer programs, or college-level study abroad programs may satisfy the language requirement. Language classes are the only classes used to fulfill major requirements that may be taken for a letter grade or Pass/No Pass. This includes the fourth semester. Language courses need not be taken at Berkeley. Courses taken at a community college or any accredited school or university may be acceptable.
Proficiency exam: Some, but not all, language departments on campus offer proficiency testing for students with advanced skills in that language. Please note that if a particular language is not taught on the UC Berkeley campus, then students are not able to test in that language. A student would then need to choose one of the other methods for fulfilling the foreign language requirement. Please speak with a PE adviser about proficiency testing.
High school completion in a non-English language: Students who were educated in a non-English language through the completion of high school or the equivalent may wish to satisfy this requirement with that experience. This requires a language proficiency exam.
The concentration is made up of four upper division courses (no more than two may be taken from the same department). See the Concentration section below for more guidance.
1
(GLOBAL N45). You must earn a B- or better to declare. This course may not be repeated to achieve a grade of B- or better.
2
You must earn a C or better to declare. This course can only be repeated once.
The concentration is made up of four courses. Within the concentration, only two courses may be taken from the same department. Up to three courses taken abroad may count, provided they conform to the concentration topic, they are upper-division, at least three semester units, and are taken for a letter grade. A syllabus in English must be submitted to the PE advisor for faculty review.
The PE concentration is the theoretical focal point in the major. It is meant to give students the opportunity to deepen their understanding of political economy around an area of particular interest to them. The concentration is perhaps the greatest benefit of the Political Economy major because it allows students to apply the theoretical and methodological knowledge they have gained to a topic about which they feel particularly drawn or curious. Students spend four courses focusing on this material, so it is important for students to be thoughtful and develop a topic about which they enjoy learning.
To get started on the concentration, students should think about an existing or potential issue or question in political economy. Then they should choose four courses that will inform or increase their understanding about that issue. These courses should all relate to the topic as well as to one another. Students are encouraged to be imaginative in defining a concentration. A concentration issue is formulated by the student with the assistance of a PE advisor who can help to explain, clarify, or perhaps challenge that issue. Students having a difficult time formulating a concentration should think about the classes they have taken which they enjoyed the most and consider what topics they learned about in those courses. Also, topics covered in GLOBAL 45 (GLOBAL N45), POLECON C45, POLECON 100, and POLECON 101 are a good place to start.
Some sample concentration topics include, but most certainly are not limited to:
Public Policy and Socioeconomic Inequality in the US
Political Economy of China
Environmental Policy in Post-Industrial Societies
Resource Distribution and Development
Departments and disciplines to consider when searching for concentration courses: Global Studies; Political Economy; Political Science; Economics; Sociology; Geography; History; Public Policy; Environmental Economics and Policy; Public Health; Gender and Women's Studies; Legal Studies; Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; and City and Regional Planning. Courses from these departments and disciplines are not guaranteed approval for a concentration, nor are students limited to the above list; this is just a good starting point. For a list of Pre-designed Political Economy concentrations, please visit the Political Economy website.
To discuss the concentration topic, students must schedule an appointment with a PE advisor. At the meeting, the student must provide a brief explanation about how each course relates to the proposed concentration topic. Students may be asked to provide syllabi for certain courses.
Any subsequent changes to already approved concentration topics and/or courses must be submitted to a PE advisor for approval by the Political Economy Faculty Committee prior to the concentration being changed.
Minor Requirements
Students who have a strong interest in an area of study outside their major often decide to complete a minor program. These programs have set requirements.
General Guidelines
All minors must be declared before the first day of classes in your Expected Graduation Term (EGT). For summer graduates, minors must be declared prior to the first day of Summer Session A.
All upper-division courses must be taken for a letter grade.
A minimum of three of the upper-division courses taken to fulfill the minor requirements must be completed at UC Berkeley.
A minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 is required in the upper-division courses to fulfill the minor requirements.
Courses used to fulfill the minor requirements may be applied toward the Seven-Course Breadth requirement for Letters & Science students.
No more than one upper division course may be used to simultaneously fulfill requirements for a student's major and minor programs.
All minor requirements must be completed prior to the last day of finals during the semester in which the student plans to graduate. If students cannot finish all courses required for the minor by that time, they should see a College of Letters & Science adviser.
All minor requirements must be completed within the unit ceiling. (For further information regarding the unit ceiling, please see the College Requirements tab.)
Students are eligible to declare the Political Economy Minor when they:
Have completed at least one course towards the minor at UCB with a grade of B or higher, or have completed at least two courses for the minor (not necessarily at UCB) with a minimum GPA of 2.0;
Have a cumulative UCB GPA of 2.0 as shown on the Student Account in CalCentral;
Have met with a PE advisor;
Are not in their final semester of undergraduate work.
Requirements for the Political Economy Minor
To declare a minor, submit the PE Minor Application found on the PE Minor webpage.
All courses towards the minor must be upper division, at least three-semester units, and taken for a letter grade.
No more than two courses may be taken from the same department.
All transfer courses (e.g. Study Abroad) must be approved by a Political Economy minor advisor.
POLECON 197, 198, and 199 cannot be used to fulfill minor requirements
Three courses related to one of the three concentration topics listed below:
Globalization
Poverty, Inequality, and Policy
Science, Technology, and Economic Development
Visit the PE Minor webpage for a list of pre-approved courses for the minor.
College Requirements
Undergraduate students must fulfill the following requirements in addition to those required by their major program.
For a detailed lists of L&S requirements, please see Overview tab to the right in this guide or visit the L&S Degree Requirements webpage. For College advising appointments, please visit the L&S Advising Pages.
All students who will enter the University of California as freshmen must demonstrate their command of the English language by fulfilling the Entry Level Writing requirement. Fulfillment of this requirement is also a prerequisite to enrollment in all reading and composition courses at UC Berkeley and must be taken for a letter grade.
The American History and American Institutions requirements are based on the principle that all U.S. residents who have graduated from an American university should have an understanding of the history and governmental institutions of the United States.
All undergraduate students at Cal need to take and pass this campus requirement course in order to graduate. The requirement offers an exciting intellectual environment centered on the study of race, ethnicity and culture of the United States. AC courses are plentiful and offer students opportunities to be part of research-led, highly accomplished teaching environments, grappling with the complexity of American Culture.
College of Letters & Science Essential Skills Requirements
The Quantitative Reasoning requirement is designed to ensure that students graduate with basic understanding and competency in math, statistics, or computer/data science. The requirement may be satisfied by exam or by taking an approved course taken for a letter grade.
The Foreign Language requirement may be satisfied by demonstrating proficiency in reading comprehension, writing, and conversation in a foreign language equivalent to the second semester college level, either by passing an exam or by completing approved course work taken for a letter grade.
In order to provide a solid foundation in reading, writing, and critical thinking the College of Letters and Science requires two semesters of lower division work in composition in sequence. Students must complete parts A & B reading and composition courses in sequential order by the end of their fourth semester for a letter grade.
College of Letters & Science 7 Course Breadth Requirements
The undergraduate breadth requirements provide Berkeley students with a rich and varied educational experience outside of their major program. As the foundation of a liberal arts education, breadth courses give students a view into the intellectual life of the University while introducing them to a multitude of perspectives and approaches to research and scholarship. Engaging students in new disciplines and with peers from other majors, the breadth experience strengthens interdisciplinary connections and context that prepares Berkeley graduates to understand and solve the complex issues of their day.
Unit Requirements
120 total units
Of the 120 units, 36 must be upper division units
Of the 36 upper division units, 6 must be taken in courses offered outside your major department
Residence Requirements
For units to be considered in "residence," you must be registered in courses on the Berkeley campus as a student in the College of Letters & Science. Most students automatically fulfill the residence requirement by attending classes at Cal for four years, or two years for transfer students. In general, there is no need to be concerned about this requirement, unless you graduate early, go abroad for a semester or year, or want to take courses at another institution or through UC Extension during your senior year. In these cases, you should make an appointment to meet an L&S College adviser to determine how you can meet the Senior Residence Requirement.
Note: Courses taken through UC Extension do not count toward residence.
Senior Residence Requirement
After you become a senior (with 90 semester units earned toward your B.A. degree), you must complete at least 24 of the remaining 30 units in residence in at least two semesters. To count as residence, a semester must consist of at least 6 passed units. Intercampus Visitor, EAP, and UC Berkeley-Washington Program (UCDC) units are excluded.
You may use a Berkeley Summer Session to satisfy one semester of the Senior Residence requirement, provided that you successfully complete 6 units of course work in the Summer Session and that you have been enrolled previously in the college.
Modified Senior Residence Requirement
Participants in the UC Education Abroad Program (EAP), Berkeley Summer Abroad, or the UC Berkeley Washington Program (UCDC) may meet a Modified Senior Residence requirement by completing 24 (excluding EAP) of their final 60 semester units in residence. At least 12 of these 24 units must be completed after you have completed 90 units.
Upper Division Residence Requirement
You must complete in residence a minimum of 18 units of upper division courses (excluding UCEAP units), 12 of which must satisfy the requirements for your major.
Plan of Study
Students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Political Economy major requirements before making a program plan. For more detailed information regarding the courses listed below (e.g., elective information, GPA requirements, etc.), see the College Requirements and Major Requirements tabs.
This is a sample program plan. This plan assumes that the student has completed the Entry Level Writing, American History and Institutions, Quantitative Reasoning, and Foreign Language requirements prior to admission.
Students are strongly advised to work with an academic advisor to determine a personal program plan. Your program plan will differ depending on previous credit received, your course schedule, and available offerings.
Same comment about foreign language.
Students could also do the HONORS program in their last year, provided they take electives or concentration classes in the summer OR take more units than indicated in the first six semesters.
Student Learning Goals
Learning Goals for the Major
Interdisciplinary Training in the Social Sciences
Develop a working knowledge of the approaches to understanding modern societies found in the classical social theory tradition from Machiavelli and Hobbes to Keynes and Polanyi.
Develop a working knowledge of the core concepts of modern political economy approaches since Keynes and Polanyi.
Understand the analytical tools of each of the relevant social science disciplines.
Analysis of Political Economy Theory and Practice
Build specific expertise in that particular area of modern political economy studied by the student’s individual concentration.
Understand and analyze the impact on their concentration area of modern global economic, political, and civil society conditions.
Understand the processes of historical development that have led their particular concentration area to its current civilization.
Historical Knowledge
Be able to use the history of the North Atlantic region since the industrial revolution as a set of benchmarks, contrasts, and yardsticks useful for analyzing and understanding modern political economy issues.
Understand the historical process that has created our modern global economy, polity, and civil society.
Skills
Language Skills
Acquire competency in a foreign language.
Participate in the education abroad program, if possible.
Demonstrate Research, Critical Reading, and Writing Skills
Formulate well-organized arguments supported by proper use of social-science disciplinary tools; of historical and comparative contrasts and models; of top-down systemic and bottom-up individual analytical perspectives; and of aggregate statistical and individual case-study evidence.
Write clearly and effectively.
Apply appropriate quantitative analytical skills.
Major Map
Major maps are experience maps that help undergraduates plan their Berkeley journey based on intended major or field of interest. Featuring student opportunities and resources from your college and department as well as across campus, each map includes curated suggestions for planning your studies, engaging outside the classroom, and pursuing your career goals in a timeline format.
Use the major map below to explore potential paths and design your own unique undergraduate experience:
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Fall 2021
The Freshman Seminar Program has been designed to provide new students with the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member in a small seminar setting. Freshman seminars are offered in all campus departments, and topics vary from department to department and semester to semester. Enrollment is limited to 15 freshmen. Freshman Seminar: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1 hour of seminar per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: The grading option will be decided by the instructor when the class is offered. Final exam required.
Formerly known as: Political Economy of Industrial Societies 24
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024
This course focuses on the history of global interaction, with a particular emphasis on the relationships between states and societies. Though it begins with a brief exploration of antiquity, it emphasizes world developments since the 15th century. The purpose of the course is to gain a better understanding of the rise and decline of states, empires, and international trading systems. Taking a panoramic view of the last 500 years, it explores the ways in which disparate places came closer together, even while it seeks to explain how those places maintained their own trajectories in the face of outside intervention. Survey of World History: Read More [+]
Terms offered: Prior to 2007
Sophomore seminars are small interactive courses offered by faculty members in departments all across the campus. Sophomore seminars offer opportunity for close, regular intellectual contact between faculty members and students in the crucial second year. The topics vary from department to department and semester to semester. Enrollment limited to 15 sophomores. Sophomore Seminar: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: At discretion of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 5 weeks - 3-6 hours of seminar per week 10 weeks - 1.5-3 hours of seminar per week 15 weeks - 1-2 hours of seminar per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 2.5-5 hours of seminar per week 8 weeks - 1.5-3.5 hours of seminar and 2-4 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: The grading option will be decided by the instructor when the class is offered. Final exam required.
Formerly known as: Political Economy of Industrial Societies 84
Terms offered: Fall 2024
This course is interdisciplinary in nature, drawing on history, philosophy and the social sciences to answer the question “What is political economy and how should we do it?” We will examine the relationships between political economy, liberal democracy, the nation-state and empire, explore the influence of institutions, ideas and identities on political economy, and analyze different topics, methodologies and mediums of communication. In doing so we will ask whether political economy is an empirical subject that seeks to describe the world, a normative endeavor that seeks to change it for the better, or something else entirely. What Is Political Economy and How Should We Do It?: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Student Learning Outcomes: Apply key theoretical frameworks, concepts and historical understandings to specific problems in contemporary society, offering critiques and potential solutions
Be able to write and speak about key substantive and methodological issues in political economy coherently and knowledgably
Decide whether political economy is something they would like to pursue as a field of study
Proceed with a substantive project in political economy if they so desire
Read and analyze academic and popular texts effectively and efficiently
Understand the historical and theoretical contexts within which different forms of political economy operate
•
Understand the historical and theoretical contexts within which different forms of political economy operate
Understand the historical and theoretical contexts within which different forms of political economy operate
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023
Student-directed course under the supervision of a faculty member. Subject matter to change from semester to semester. Directed Group Study: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-4 hours of directed group study per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Offered for pass/not pass grade only. Final exam not required.
Formerly known as: Political Economy of Industrial Societies 98
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Fall 2024, Spring 2024
One-semester lecture course offered each semester. In-depth analysis of the classical political economy literature, including such authors as Locke, Smith, Marx, Mills, and Weber to Veblen and Polanyi. Strong emphasis is placed on providing appropriate background for understanding the evolution of the literature that has emanated from the various social science disciplines which forms the basis of modern political economy. Classical Theories of Political Economy: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit under special circumstances: Passing POLECON 100 may replace a deficient grade in POLECON N100.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 6 hours of lecture and 1.5 hours of discussion per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Summer 2024 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2023 8 Week Session, Summer 2022 First 6 Week Session
In-depth analysis of the classical political economy literature, including such authors as Locke, Smith, Marx, Mills, and Weber to Veblen and Polanyi. Strong emphasis is placed on providing appropriate background for understanding the evolution of the literature that has emanated from the various social science disciplines which forms the basis of modern political economy. Classical Theories of Political Economy: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit under special circumstances: Passing POLECON N100 may replace a deficient grade in POLECON 100.
Hours & Format
Summer: 6 weeks - 10.5 hours of lecture per week 8 weeks - 7.5 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Fall 2024, Spring 2024
This course is designed to introduce students to modern theoretical works of central intellectual debates on 20th century international political economy. The course explores alternative explanations for inequality in economic development among nations and economic declines of of the dominate powers. It will also examine tensions between the increasing "globalization" of that economy and continued fragmentation of the international political system in nation-states. Contemporary Theories of Political Economy: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites:POLECON 100, Political Economy 100 or consent of instructor
Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for POLECON 101 after completing POLECIS 101, POLECIS S101, or POLECON N101. A deficient grade in POLECON 101 may be removed by taking POLECON N101.
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit under special circumstances: Passing POLECON 101 may replace a deficient grade in POLECON N101.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 7.5 hours of lecture and 2.5 hours of discussion per week 8 weeks - 6 hours of lecture and 1.5 hours of discussion per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Summer 2024 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2023 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2022 First 6 Week Session
This course is designed to introduce students to modern theoretical works of central intellectual debates on 20th century international political economy. The course explores alternative explanations for inequality in economic development among nations and economic declines of of the dominate powers. It will also examine tensions between the increasing "globalization" of that economy and continued fragmentation of the international political system in nation-states. Contemporary Theories of Political Economy: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Political Economy 100, N100 or consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit under special circumstances: Passing POLECON N101 may replace a deficient grade in POLECON 101.
Hours & Format
Summer: 6 weeks - 7.5 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Spring 2023
This course is designed as a comprehensive overview of intermediate microeconomic theory. It covers the basic supply and demand model. Topics include consumer choice, choice under uncertainty and information, demand theory, firm, production and cost theory, competitive market theory, imperfect competition, and market failure. The course is structured for majors in Political Economy and other non-economic social science majors. Intermediate Microeconomic Theory: Read More [+]
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022
This course is designed as a comprehensive overview of intermediate macroeconomic theory focusing on economic growth and international economics. It covers a number of topics including history of economic growth, industrial revolution, post-industrial revolution divergence, flexible-price and sticky-price macroeconomics, and macroeconomic policy. Course is structured for majors in Political Economy and other non-economic social science majors. Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory: Read More [+]
Terms offered: Summer 2020 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2019 First 6 Week Session, Spring 2018
This course investigates the nature, extent, and persistence of poverty and inequality, and examines the effects of program and policy responses. Throughout the course we will look at proposed explanations for the causes of poverty and will observe how underlying values and assumptions have influenced the development of policies aimed at poverty alleviation. While emphasizing poverty and policy responses in the United States, we will examine poverty and related policies in other countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as points of comparison. Poverty and Social Policy: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 7.5 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Prior to 2007
This course is designed to accommodate cross-listed courses offered through other departments, the content of which is applicable to PE majors. Content and unit values vary from course to course. Cross-Listed Topics: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-4 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Formerly known as: Political Economy of Industrial Societies 130
Terms offered: Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014
These small research and writing seminars will focus on the research area of the faculty member teaching the course and will provide students the opportunity to engage in conversation, research, and writing in greater depth than is possible in a larger class. Junior Seminar in Political Economy: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Junior Standing
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2-3 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Spring 2024, Fall 2021, Spring 2020
The 21st century has seen powerful critiques of both growing economic inequality and the troubling persistence of domination based on gender, race and other categorical differences. Gender has a distinctive role here for many reasons: the centrality of gender to social reproduction; the historical coproduction of male domination and capitalism; and the way gender operates in the constitution of selves. Insofar as capitalism is organized and distributes power and profits through gendered structures, and gendered meanings and identities are shaped by their emergence within capitalist logics, it behooves us to think gender and capitalism in tandem. Figuring out how to do that, and sorting out the consequences, is our project in this class. Gender and Capitalism: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2-4 hours of lecture and 1-0 hours of discussion per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 7.5 hours of lecture and 0 hours of discussion per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Prior to 2007
A short course designed to provide a vehicle to take advantage of short-term visitors coming to campus who have considerable expertise in areas of interest to political economy of industrial societies. Topics will vary from semester to semester. Special Topics: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 8 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Formerly known as: Political Economy of Industrial Societies 140
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Summer 2024 First 6 Week Session, Spring 2023
Advanced multidisciplinary research in current issues of political economy and industrialization. Seminars will focus on specific geographical areas or topics with appropriate comparative material included. A major research project is required as well as class presentations. Topics change each semester. Advanced Study in Political Economy: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and background in political economy or related social sciences
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 7.5 hours of seminar per week 8 weeks - 5.5 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Formerly known as: Political Economy of Industrial Societies 150
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024
This is an interdisciplinary course in international trade and finance focused on the dynamic interaction between economics and politics in the global arena. The course provides students a systematic method of evaluating international economic policies, while developing critical thinking skills through case studies and critical analysis. More specifically, the course focuses on the impact of flows of trade, capital, and people across borders and the role played by: (1) states and their political actors, (2) non-governmental groups, e.g., multinational corporations and labor unions, and (3) domestic and international institutions that all establish the “rules of the game”, in shaping the global economy. Global Trade and Finance: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Prior to 2007
This course focuses on the relationship of politics and economics in modern societies. Special attention is given to problems and issues in social science or public policy best examined from an interdisciplinary perspective with an eye toward building students' knowledge of recently developed analytical tools in political economy. Developments in Modern Political Economy: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 100 and 101 or consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit up to a total of 8 units.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 7.5 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Formerly known as: Political Economy of Industrical Societies 155
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022
This course investigates the historical origins and institutional ecosystem of Silicon Valley by identifying key factors in the development of Silicon Valley, as well as political circumstances and cultural conditions that have sustained its important role in the global economy. Questions like these will be addressed: Will Silicon Valley and artificial intelligence render workers irrelevant? Have the region’s tech giants like Google, Apple and Facebook become the monopolists of the new Gilded Age, and should they be broken up? Has Silicon Valley peaked? Is the “Silicon Valley model” unique or can it be replicated elsewhere? Lectures are discussion-driven, interactive, and will be complemented by films, debate, and group work. Silicon Valley and the Global Economy: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Fall 2024, Spring 2024
This course examines the history, theory, and operation of the American financial system. Key questions we will consider include: What is money? What is finance? How did the financial system evolve historically in the American context? To answer these questions, we will first look to histories and then canonical theorizations before turning to the operation of money and the nuts-and-bolts of American financial markets. Finally, we examine the global financial crisis of 2008 and its aftermath in light of these considerations. The goal of this course is for students to develop a basic understanding of the historical development, theoretical underpinnings, and actual practice of the American financial system. The Political Economy of Finance: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Course Objectives: Articulate and critique the various theoretical underpinnings of the system in how it operates in the present day Confidently articulate complex ideas in a public setting Discuss, analyze and write about the American Financial System Historically situate financial crises and interaction with the global economy
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week
Summer: 3 weeks - 16 hours of lecture and 6 hours of discussion per week 6 weeks - 8 hours of lecture and 6 hours of discussion per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2020
This course will examine how government and industry interact to govern markets by surveying debates over specific substantive issues in the advanced industrial countries, especially the United States and Japan. Topics include labor regulation, antitrust policy, financial regulation, intellectual property rights, and the digital economy. Market Governance and the Digital Economy: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Fall 2023
How can we understand the role of digital technology in our lives and in society today? In this course we will investigate the political economy of digital technologies. In doing so, we will consider how the rapid rise of digital technologies is simultaneously reinforcing past structures of power while also forging new terrains of contestation. Throughout this process, we will consider how injustice is exacerbated or justice is achieved through the proliferation of these new technologies. Finally, we will examine the creative forms of resistance that have emerged alongside these technologies. Digital Technology, Political Economy, and Justice: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Student Learning Outcomes: 1. Describe how contemporary digital technologies shape social, political, and economic aspects of the world around us.
2. Assess and critique specific digital technologies through a political economic lens.
3. Analyze and communicate the relationship between political economic theories and current events.
4. Evaluate alternative possibilities for a more just inclusion of digital technologies in society.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Fall 2021
This course focuses specifically on the historical context and perspective of the relationship of politics and economics in modern societies. Students are guided through an interdisciplinary survey of the historical experience of peoples and places who have participated in the ongoing great transformation away from argricultural societies to the rise of the industrial state and onto post-industrialism. Each term provides a different perspective of this transformation. Political Economy in Historical Context: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 100 and 101, or Political Economy of Industrial Societies 100 and 101, or consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit up to a total of 8 units.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 7.5 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Formerly known as: Political Economy of Industrial Societies 160
Terms offered: Fall 2024
This is a survey of the economic and social origins and development of the modern economy, beginning in early modern Europe and extending until the construction of the global capitalist system in the late nineteenth century. It attends to scholarly disputes over the origins of the distinctive economic features of capitalism: private property, the international monetary system, free wage labor and slavery, commodification and cultures of consumption, credit and banking, crises and inequality, as well as industrialization and economic growth. This course is a companion to the ideas studied in History 159B and is intended to lead in to the material covered in History 160. No prior quantitative methods training is required, or assumed. Origins of Capitalism: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for HISTORY 159A after completing ECON 111A.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3-3 hours of lecture and 0-1 hours of discussion per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Formerly known as: History 159A/Political Economy C160
Terms offered: Spring 2023
This course will examine the relationship between pandemic disease and political shifts over the past five centuries, centuries in which pandemics influenced economic and political trends including the rise and decline of states, the expansion and contraction of trade, innovation, diplomatic relations, land use and land tenure, labor relations and labor markets, and other core themes relevant to the study of political economy. After grounding in some of the basic history, we will focus on how pandemic and epidemic diseases affect the political economy – i.e. the structures of wealth and power – of the countries and world regions through which they swept. Pandemics and Politics: Infectious Disease in Historical Perspective: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Spring 2018
This course is designed to provide a vehicle for undergraduate students interested in writing a major paper on a political economy topic. The paper should be approximately thirty pages in length; the topic should be agreed upon in advance by both the student and faculty sponsor. Senior Thesis: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Upper division standing; consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 0 hours of independent study per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Formerly known as: Political Economy of Industrial Societies 192
Terms offered: Prior to 2007
Interdisciplinary research seminar for Political Economy majors. Intensive writing on research questions in social science and public policy best approached from an interdisciplinary perspective. Course assumes intermediate to advanced knowledge of central focus or topic of course. Weekly discussions and critiques of readings and assignments. Final paper or project required. Topic must be approved by instructor. Topics vary from term to term. Senior Seminar: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Spring 2023
Honors students are required to research and write a thesis based on the prospectus developed in International and Area Studies 102. The thesis work is reviewed by the honors instructor and a second reader to be selected based on the thesis topic. Weekly progress reports required. Senior Honors Thesis Seminar: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: International and Area Studies 102 and consent of instructor; senior standing
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Formerly known as: Political Economy of Industrial Societies H195
Terms offered: Prior to 2007
Students to work in selected internship programs approved in advance by the faculty coordinator and for which written contracts have been established between the sponsoring organization and the student. Students will be expected to produce two progress reports for their faculty coordinator during the course of the internship, as well as produce a final paper for the course consisting of no fewer than 35 pages. Other restrictions apply; see faculty adviser. Special Field Research: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit up to a total of 12 units.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 0 hours of fieldwork per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 1-6 hours of fieldwork per week 8 weeks - 1-6 hours of fieldwork per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Formerly known as: Political Economy of Industrial Societies 196
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012
This course is the UCDC letter-graded core seminar for 4 units that complements the P/NP credited internship course UGIS C196B. Core seminars are designed to enhance the experience of and provide an intellectual framework for the student's internship. UCDC core seminars are taught in sections that cover various tracks such as the Congress, media, bureaucratic organizations and the Executive Branch, international relations, public policy and general un-themed original research. UCDC Core Seminar: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: C196B (must be taken concurrently)
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes. Students may enroll in multiple sections of this course within the same semester.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Summer: 10 weeks - 4.5 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2013
This course provides a credited internship for all students enrolled in the UCDC and Cal in the Capital Programs. It must be taken in conjunction with the required academic core course C196A. C196B requires that students work 3-4 days per week as interns in settings selected to provide them with exposure to and experienc in government, public policy, international affairs, media, the arts or other areas or relevance to their major fields of study. UCDC Internship: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: C196A (must be taken concurrently)
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 20 hours of internship per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Offered for pass/not pass grade only. Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, Spring 2013
Students work in selected internship programs approved in advance by the faculty coordinator and for which written contracts have been established between the sponsoring organization and the student. Students will be expected to produce two progress reports for their faculty coordinator during the course of the internship, as well as a final paper for the course consisting of at least 35 pages. Other restrictions apply; see faculty adviser. Special Field Research: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit up to a total of 12 units.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar and 25 hours of internship per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 7.5 hours of seminar and 60 hours of internship per week 8 weeks - 6 hours of seminar and 50 hours of internship per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Summer 2016 10 Week Session, Fall 2015, Spring 2012
Supervised experience relevant to specific aspects of Political Economy of Industrial Societies in off-campus organizations. Regular individual meetings with faculty sponsor and written reports required. Field Studies: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Upper division standing and consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 0 hours of fieldwork per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 1-4 hours of fieldwork per week 8 weeks - 1-4 hours of fieldwork per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Offered for pass/not pass grade only. Final exam not required.
Formerly known as: Political Economy of Industrial Societies 197
Prerequisites: Written proposal must be approved by a faculty adviser
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-4 hours of independent study per week
Summer: 3 weeks - 5-20 hours of independent study per week 6 weeks - 2.5-10 hours of independent study per week 8 weeks - 1.5-7.5 hours of independent study per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Political Economy/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Offered for pass/not pass grade only. Final exam not required.
Formerly known as: Political Economy of Industrial Societies 199
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