POL S 522 A: International Political Economy

Winter 2026
View in MyPlan View in Time Schedule
Meeting:
T 1:30pm - 4:20pm
SLN:
19569
Section Type:
Seminar
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS FIELD REQUIRED COURSE ** POLITICAL ECONOMY FIELD REQUIRED COURSE
Syllabus Description (from Canvas):

DRAFT ONLY

International Political Economy (POL S 522)

Aseem Prakash

Winter 2026

Class Time:               Tuesday, 1:30‐4:20 p.m.  

Class Location:         Mechanical Engineering 102

Office Hours:             By appointment  (please email me to schedule a meeting)

Office:                        39 Gowen                                         

E‐mail:                       aseem@uw.edu 

Course Objective

This is a survey course for doctoral students interested in the study of International Political Economy (IPE).  IPE covers a wide range of subjects. It includes studying how global markets and economic connections (via trade, FDI, capital flows, aid, and remittances) shape global politics or domestic politics/policy, or how global political arrangements, such as intergovernmental and private regimes, shape domestic politics and policy. Scholars also reverse the independent and dependent variables and examine how domestic factors shape national-level responses to global/regional regimes. We can also incorporate interactions between domestic and international factors to explain the dependent variable of our choice. The range of issue areas covered by scholars is also impressive – from traditional suspects such as regimes, trade, finance, and foreign aid to newer suspects such as policy, diffusion, environmental issues, labor, and human rights. Scholars increasingly (and thankfully) examine both state and non-state actors in the study of IPE.  In terms of methods, while statistical techniques (specifically, cross-sectional time-series) tend to dominate, there are a substantial number of case studies, surveys, formal models, and, increasingly, field experiments. Given the complexity of the field, my objective is to expose you to important concepts and themes in IPE. This would allow you to assess the state of the art and identify specific issues you wish to examine in greater depth in your work.

 

Readings

Given the short duration of the quarter system and the broad range of topics covered by IPE scholars, designing a comprehensive syllabus is challenging. I have decided to assign articles that address important IPE debates, particularly emerging issues.  All readings are available on Canvas.  

 Course Expectations

This doctoral seminar requires active student participation. I expect you to contribute thoughtfully and energetically to class discussions and the collective learning process.

Student Presentations

For every session, students will present and critique the assigned articles. The discussant-presenter should prepare a two-page (single-spaced) summary and critique, and email it to me by Monday, 1200 noon.

How to structure your memo? Assume a prominent journal has requested you to review the assigned article. How might you evaluate it? First, identify the big idea, the intuition behind, and the motivation for the paper, and eventually the core research question. Situate this in the relevant literature. Then, evaluate the clarity of the key hypotheses, the appropriateness of the empirical methods, and the data employed to test them. Next, assess if the findings are interpreted correctly. Finally, ask yourself: Did this paper advance our understanding of IPE? If so, how? If not, why not?

The discussant-presenter should budget about 10 minutes for the in-class presentation. To minimize transaction and governance costs, I will assign the articles. You are free to “trade” (1 for one is the exchange ratio) among yourselves and arrive at an equilibrium that suits your intellectual tastes.

I strongly recommend that you retain all memos generated in this course, as they will be very helpful in preparing for the IR or PE comprehensive exams.

Class Participation

To have a meaningful discussion, please review all readings prior to the class. Those not assigned to present a reading should email me 2-3 discussion questions. I will forward them to the class. This one-page “Discussion Questions” memo should reach me by Monday, 1200 noon. Please provide a short discussion on how your questions relate to the theoretical or empirical issues raised in the assigned readings (you are not obliged to cover all). You are encouraged to relate these readings to articles you may have reviewed in other seminars. As scholars, you must learn to cumulate knowledge: drawing connections with readings across different seminars is, therefore, an excellent exercise.

Research Proposal

A five-page (single-spaced) research proposal is due February 10. Treat this as a first cut for a grant proposal or your MA/PhD proposal. One-page proposal outlines are due March 10. The research proposal could be structured as follows:

Research Puzzle:      What is the central issue you want to study, and why is it theoretically important? It may be helpful to identify your dependent variable(s), independent variable(s), and the logic connecting them.

Research Context:   How does your topic speak to the IPE literature? What are the relevant concepts or models? What are the research contributions?

Research Design:     What is the appropriate research strategy to examine your research puzzle? What are your hypotheses? Are they falsifiable? What are your data requirements? How would you analyze and interpret the data?

Contributions:          What new theoretical insights is your research expected to provide? What are the implications for future IPE research?

 

Evaluation

In total, you can score 100 points. To convert this into a 4-point scale, I will follow the departmental guidelines: https://depts.washington.edu/psteach/grading%20system.html

 

Key questions memos                                             30 points

Article critique:                                                        30 points

Class Participation                                                  20 points

Research proposal:                                                  20 points

 

Religious Accommodation

Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/).

 

Class Schedule

Session 1, January 6

Getting Started

  1. Gourevitch P. 1978. The second image reversed: the international sources of domestic politics. International Organization. 32: 881-912. ACELYA

 

  1. Putnam R. 1988. Diplomacy and domestic politics: the logic of two-level games. International Organization. 42:427-460. HASSAN

 

  1. Choi J, Kuziemko I, Washington E, and Wright G. 2024. Local Economic and Political Effects of Trade Deals: Evidence from NAFTA. American Economic Review, 114: 1540–75. THOMAS

 

  1. Autor D, Dorn D, & Hanso, G. 2016. The China shock: Learning from labor-market adjustment to large changes in trade. Annual Review of Economics, 8(1), 205-240. CAN

 

  1. Barry C, Clay C, and Flynn M. 2013. Avoiding the Spotlight: Human Rights Shaming and Foreign Direct Investment. International Studies Quarterly, 57: 532–544. ALI

6. If you have time, read this news story

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/17122025/china-oversea-clean-energy-investments/

Session 2: January 13

Regimes and International Organizations 

  1. Chwieroth J. 2007. Testing and Measuring the Role of Ideas: The Case of Neoliberalism in the International Monetary Fund. International Studies Quarterly, 51: 5‐30. MERVE

 

  1. Koru S, Mutz D. 2025. Polarization in American support for International Organizations, 2017–2024. Review of International Organizations. TAYLOR

 

  1. Doshi R, Kelly J and Simmons B. The Power of Ranking: The Ease of Doing Business Indicator and Global Regulatory Behavior. International Organization, 73: 611-643. ZACHARY

 

  1. Alexander D, and Rooney B. 2019. Vote-Buying by the United States in the United Nations, International Studies Quarterly, 63: 168–176. MARK

 

  1. Dörfler T, Heinzel M. 2023. Greening global governance: INGO secretariats and environmental mainstreaming of IOs, 1950 to 2017. Review of International Organizations 18, 117–143. YI

 

Session 3, January 20

Trade

  1. Mansfield E and Mutz D. 2009. Support for Free Trade: Self-Interest, Sociotropic Politics, and Out-Group Anxiety. International Organization, 63: 425-57. TONGTIAN

 

  1. Fordham, B. 2025. Race, Trade, and the Demise of Southern Support for Multilateralism, 1945–62. World Politics, 77(4), 737-776. ANDREW

 

  1. Greenhill B, Mosley L and Prakash A. 2009. Trade-based Diffusion of Labor Rights: A Panel Study, 1986–2002. American Political Science Review. 103: 669-690. ACELYA

 

  1. Dolan L, and Milner H. 2023. Low-Skilled Liberalizers: Support for Free Trade in Africa. International Organization. 77: 848-870. HASSAN 

 

  1. Kim I. 2017. Political Cleavages within Industry: Firm-level Lobbying for Trade Liberalization. American Political Science Review, 111: 1-20. THOMAS

 

Session 4, January 27

Foreign Direct Investment 

  1. Kim, S. 2023. Protecting home: how firms’ investment plans affect the formation of bilateral investment treaties. Review of International Organizations, 18, 667–692.

 

  1. Ka Zeng K, Kim S. 2025. Chinese Firms in the US–China Trade War: Decoupling through Reshoring?, International Studies Quarterly, 69, (1).

 

  1. Zhang, H., 2023. Commerce, coalitions, and global value chains: Coordinated and collective lobbying on trade. American Journal of Political Science.

 

  1. Tomashevskiy A. 2021. Economic Statecraft by Other Means: The Use and Abuse of Anti-Bribery Prosecution. International Studies Quarterly, 65, 2: 387–400.

 

  1. Li T, Pandya S, & Sekhri S. 2026. Repelling Rape: Foreign Direct Investment Empowers Women. The Journal of Politics, 88(1), 000-000.

 

Session 5:  February 3

Finance, Money, and Currency

 

  1. Oliver S, Jablonski R, and Hastings J. 2017. The Tortuga Disease: The Perverse Effects of Illicit Foreign Capital, International Studies Quarterly, 61: 312–327.

 

  1. Bulman D, Leng N, Ratigan K. 2025. Foreign Borrowing, Sovereignty, and Public Opinion in the Global South: Traditional lenders or China, Review of International Organizations.

 

  1. Frantz E. 2018. Elections and Capital Flight: Evidence from Africa, International Studies Quarterly, 62(1): 160–170.

 

  1. Dang T, Stone R. 2021. Multinational Banks and IMF Conditionality. International Studies Quarterly, 65, 2: 375–386

 

  1. Dolan L, Zeitz A. 2024. Migration and development finance: A survey experiment on diaspora bonds. Review of International Organizations 19, 185–215.

 

 

1-page proposal is due

Session 6:  February 10

Financial Economy

 

  1. O'Mahony A. 2013. Political Investment: Remittances and Elections. British Journal of Political Science, 43: 799-820.

 

  1. Tertytchnaya K, De Vires C, Solaz H, and Doyle D. When the Money Stops: Fluctuations in Financial Remittances and Incumbent Approval in Central Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. American Political Science Review, 112: 758-774.

 

  1. Lipscy Pand Lee H. 2019. The IMF As a Biased Global Insurance Mechanism: Asymmetrical Moral Hazard, Reserve Accumulation, and Financial Crises. International Organization, 73: 35-64.

 

  1. Cormier B. 2023. Chinese or Western Finance? Transparency, official credit flows, and the international political economy of development. Review of International Organizations 18, 297–328.

 

  1. Jones E and Zeitz A. 2019. Regulatory Convergence in the Financial Periphery: How Interdependence Shapes Regulators’ Decisions, International Studies Quarterly, 63: 908–922.

 

Session 7, February 17

Migration

 

  1. Blair C, Grossman G, and Weinstein J. 2022. Forced Displacement and Asylum Policy in the Developing World. International Organization. 76: 337-378.

 

  1. Sheppard J and von Stein J. 2022. Attitudes and Action in International Refugee Policy: Evidence from Australia. International Organization. 76: 929-956.

 

  1. Denney S and Green C. 2021. Who Should Be Admitted? Conjoint Analysis of South Korean Attitudes toward Immigrants. Ethnicities, 21(1), 120-145.

 

  1. Castellano R, Dolšak N, and Prakash A. 2021. Willingness to Help Climate Migrants: A Survey Experiment in the Korail Slum of Dhaka, Bangladesh. PLOS ONE, 16(4), e0249315.

 

  1. Baccini L, Lodefalk M, Sabolová R. 2024. Economic Determinants of Attitudes Toward Migration: Firm-level Evidence from Europe. International Organization, 78:67-102

 

Session 8, February 24

China

 

  1. Adolph C and Prakash A. 2022. Does the Economic Decline of the West and the Rise of China Encourage NGO Crackdown? Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 51(2), 429-443.

 

  1. Ghiselli A and Morgan P. 2025. Blowback: When China’s Belt and Road Initiative Meets Democratic Institutions, International Studies Quarterly, 69(1).

 

  1. Tan Y, Dallas M, Farrell H and Newman A. 2025. Driven to Self-Reliance: Technological Interdependence and the Chinese Innovation Ecosystem, International Studies Quarterly, 69(2).

 

  1. Qian J, Vreeland J, and Zhao J. 2023. The Impact of China’s AIIB on the World Bank. International Organization. 77: 217-237.

 

  1. Kim S. 2018. Media Bias against Foreign Firms as a Veiled Trade Barrier: Evidence from Chinese Newspapers, American Political Science Review, 112: 954-970

 

 

 

 

Session 9: March 3

Foreign Aid

 

 

  1. Findley M, Harris A, Milner H, and Nielson D. 2017. Who Controls Foreign Aid? Elite versus Public Perceptions of Donor Influence in Aid-Dependent Uganda. International Organization, 71: 633-66.

 

  1. Isaksson, AS., Durevall, D. 2023. Aid and institutions: Local effects of World Bank aid on perceived institutional quality in Africa. Review of International Organizations, 18, 523–551.

 

  1. Berlin M, Desai R and Olofsgård A. 2023. Trading Favors? UN Security Council Membership and Subnational Favoritism in Aid Recipients. Review of International Organizations 18, 237–258.

 

  1. Bayram A, and Thomson C. 2022. Ignoring the Messenger? Limits of Populist Rhetoric on Public Support for Foreign Development Aid, International Studies Quarterly, 66 (1).

 

  1. Simon M, Schwartz C, & Hudson D. 2024. Can Foreign Aid Reduce the Desire to Emigrate? Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial. American Journal of Political Science, 1:14

 

Project proposal turned in

Session 10, March 10

Environmental Issues

 

  1. Tingley D and Tomz M. 2014. Conditional Cooperation and Climate Change. Comparative Political Studies, 47(3), 344-368.

 

  1. Xu A. 2025. Bureaucratic Packing in the Brazilian Amazon: How Political Competition Drives Deforestation. The Journal of Politics, 87(4), 1350-1364.

 

  1. Gazmararian A. 2025. Sources of Partisan Change: Evidence from the Shale Gas Shock in American Coal Country. The Journal of Politics, 87(2), 601-615.

 

  1. Morin J, Brandi C and Schwab J. 2024. Environmental Agreements as Clubs: Evidence from a New Dataset of Trade Provisions. Review of International Organizations, 19, 33–62.

 

  1. Aklin and M. Mildenberger. 2020. Prisoners of the Wrong Dilemma: Why Distributive Conflict, not Collective Action, Characterizes the Politics of Climate Change. Global Environmental Politics, 20(4), 4–27.

 

 

 

 

Catalog Description:
Theories of international political economy. Focuses on the emergence and development of the modern world system, the transition from feudalism to capitalism, and the institution of the nation-state system. Examines the political economy of trade, investment, and the international division of labor from a variety of theoretical perspectives. Prerequisite: POL S 521.
Credits:
5.0
Status:
Active
Last updated:
January 7, 2026 - 11:46 am