Calling on political science + econ students!

I am looking for reading lists/a module breakdown for political science and economics degrees. If anyone can recommend key books, thinkers and concepts in this field, I'd be very grateful.

Reply 1

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

Original post

by ame22

I am looking for reading lists/a module breakdown for political science and economics degrees. If anyone can recommend key books, thinkers and concepts in this field, I'd be very grateful.

My recommendations for economics:

Principles of Economics by N. Gregory Mankiw

Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach by Hal Varian

Basic Econometrics by Damodar N. Gujarati

Mathematics for Economics and Business by Ian Jacques

Schaum's Outline of Introduction to Mathematical Economics by Edward Dowling

Essential Mathematics for Economic Analysis by Knut Sydsæter, Peter Hammond, Arne Strom, Andrés Carvajal

Further Mathematics for Economic Analysis by Knut Sydsaeter, Peter Hammond, Atle Seierstad, Arne Strom

Numbers 1-3 are strongly recommended for economics degrees. If you have problems with your maths or need a refresher, look at 4/ If you are into mathematical economics, then look into 5-7. They're all worth buying in my opinion, but I recommend 1-3 if you want to do the degree, and at least 5 if you want to work on the maths (it's cheap second hand).

For casual reading into economics:

The Age of Turbulence by Alan Greenspan

Freakonomics by Stephen J. Dubner and Steven Levitt

SuperFreakonomics by Stephen J. Dubner and Steven Levitt

The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford

Animal Spirits by George Akerlof and Robert J. Shiller

Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard H. Thale

1 is a autobiography from a central banker. 2-4 and 6 are applied economics in interesting contexts. 5 is a good read on an economic theory.

YouTube Channels to look into:

•

The Economist: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0p5jTq6Xx_DosDFxVXnWaQ

•

Economics Explained: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ4AMrDcNrfy3X6nsU8-rPg

•

Crash Course: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8dPuuaLjXtPNZwz5_o_5uirJ8gQXnhEO

•

Khan Academy: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSQl0a2vh4HDERCw_ddanXbsDpFWcpL-S

For an interesting take on economics based on an individual's opinion, see: https://www.youtube.com/@garyseconomics

Reply 2

University of Kent

Official Rep

Original post

by ame22

I am looking for reading lists/a module breakdown for political science and economics degrees. If anyone can recommend key books, thinkers and concepts in this field, I'd be very grateful.

Hey @ame22,

I hope you're keeping well. :smile:

Personally, I myself wouldn't suggest going for textbooks for readings, as I personally find they can dull you out quite quickly if you're not interested in what they say, or what they're saying isn't quite relevant. It also doesn't help that they're quite slow to start. Though, I will say that I've found reading my textbook is best when going for further reading for a specific topic at Uni - helps you gain good questions to ask your lecturers.

As for interesting books related to Political Science and Economics, I would recommend:

•

Freakonomics - Steven Dubner and Stephen Levitt (Great for understanding how general economics itself can be, and how original the subject itself can be when not talking about more boring topics in macro and micro)

•

Economics Rules - Dani Rodrik (Great for a preliminary introduction to economics, and a lot better at teaching you the limitations than other books which can get quite offputting. You can think of this as a defence of economics by a critic.)

•

The People vs Tech - Jamie Bartlett (Great for a nice quick read on the dangers of data collection, and the implications this has on advertising, identity, and democracy)

These books down here I haven't read, but some of my favourite political lecturers here recommened them as fascinating and interesting reads:

•

The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga (A gripping narrative touching upon themes of social hierarchies, rigidities and economic aspirations among other things. I must confess I read the book once the movie was released.)

•

The Buried Giant - Kazuo Ishiguro (A fascinating fable exploring ideas regarding justice, tolerance, hatred and relationships. A very moving tale.)

Here was the basic module breakdown for my Political Economy class:
1. Electoral rules, voting and their economic implications
2. Political Reforms and their Economic Impacts
3. Institutions and Development
4. Ethnic and Civil Conflict
5. Climate Agreements:
Though I should say, this was quite specialised so that my lecturer could bring in some of his own work and work he's familiar with to better teach the class. I think you might find that this module may differ from those in other universities.

For us, there was no required textbook in this module. However, as implied earlier, there was a lot more articles drawn from Economic Journals which we would go through in the class (sometimes more in depth, sometimes just as a justification).
I won't paste all the relevant articles here (as it's like 3 pages worth of articles), but as an example I'll paste some here:

2. Political Reforms and their Economic Impacts: Lectures 5-8.
Mitra, A. “Mandated Political Representation and Redistribution”, Economica, Vol. 85, Issue 338 (April 2018) pp. 266–280.
4. Ethnic and Civil Conflict: Lectures 13-18
Anirban Mitra and Debraj Ray (2014), “Implications of an Economic Theory of Conflict: HinduMuslim Violence in India”, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 122, No. 4 (August 2014), pp. 719-765.

Acemoglu and Robinson would be some of the 2 major (And some of my favourite) thinkers from this field. Their work on development and institutions is incredibly renowned, and also extremely fascinating at that! Marx is also a really influential economist, though you'll more often see his work be credited with inspiring others rather than seeing his acutal work (since the book is pretty boring). Other than this, you'll also probably see people also paying homage to Smith, but again, his book is also pretty boring so I wouldn't really predcit that you'll see much of his direct work. I'd like to give more recommendations, but firstly, I'm not too sure which topics in Political Science or Political Economics or Economics you're interested in, but also, I'd also just recommend you find articles you find interesting, rather than read someone just because they happen to be somewhat famous to some nerds studying economics!

As for concepts, you really learn it as you go. But from the top of my mind, The Paradox of Plenty/ Resource Curse/ Dutch Disease is a very interesting concept as they come. Tensions between Capitalism and Democracy is also an incredibly absorbing topic, and very relevant nowadays. Insititutions as well is probably one of the most influential modern ideas to have come about in Economics as well recently. If you wanted more sociological concepts which are a bit more philosophical in nature, you could take a look at post-structuralism in institutionalism and constructivism, though I'll be completely honest, I don't know much about that to say anything.

Anyways, I hope this at least helped a bit.
If you happen to have more questions, please don't hestitate to ask!

Warm regards,

David :smile:

University of Kent Student Rep

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