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Was Philosophy, Politics and Economics course inspired by The Republic?

Hi, I have been thinking about what makes the combination of the study of philosophy, politics and economics so fruitful at manufacturing politicians in the UK and across the world and I came across one of the Plato's most famous works, The Republic. If you have never come across it, the gist is that Plato opposed democracy as he thought people are irrational (which I personally think is true, although history reflects the truth that democracy is the most pragmatic and enduring political system we currently have) and he thought that societies should be governed by philosophers.
Now, we all know that politics and economics play a huge role in modern day politics, but why philosophy in the combination? Why not other useful subjects for politicians like history or law? And how did the founder of this combination (University of Oxford) know that this combination would be successful? (I bet it's not trial and error). Were they inspired by Plato and what he said happens to be true?

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