Course Topics
Institutions and economics Institutions in non democratic societies Institutional reforms The effects of international politics Civil wars Vote coercion and vote buying Organised crime and politics Media, politics, and economics

Propaedeutic courses
The frequency of the courses Macroeconomics and Microeconomics is warmly suggested, in order to properly follow these lectures

Teaching format
Lectures and student presentations in seminar form (presentation marks count for 40% of the final mark of the course)

Educational objectives
Knowledge and understanding: At the end of the course, students will have acquired the following knowledge and understanding: - analysis of the demand and supply of goods and services; - ability to understand the price mechanism in market economies; - ability to apply the concepts of game theory to the economic behaviour of public and private actors; - ability to understand the role of governments in market economies; - ability to analyse the behaviour of economic variables in the short, medium and long term; - ability to historically contextualise economic thinking and to assess the role of technology and social change on the evolution of economic thinking;7. ability to understand complex economic texts in the three teaching languages; - ability to analyse human behaviour in organisations; - ability to understand organisational decision-making theories; - ability to understand how political choices are formulated and how these decisions affect the economy; - recognise and understand the conditions that are necessary for sustainable economic development taking into consideration the environment and natural resources; - understanding of the reasons for the economic growth and development of countries; - understanding of the basic principles of the functioning of labour markets; - estimation and interpretation of econometric models for the empirical analysis of the above problems. Applying knowledge and understanding: - ability to apply methods of economic theory to some topics in political science; - ability to interact fluently and spontaneously with native speakers on economic topics: - ability to apply models of political economy, development and economic growth to analyse problems related to poverty, income inequality, education and health related to developed and developing countries; - ability to understand, analyse and identify political decision-making processes. Autonomy of judgement Acquisition of the capacity for judgement and methodological tools useful for the critical analysis of data, sources, assumptions and implications of scientific practice, of the political, ethical and legal context within which economic phenomena are inscribed and with which they interact. Communication skills Fluency (oral and written) in Italian, German and English, including translation between these languages. Intercultural competence. Conceptual awareness, ability to summarise and express oneself in writing, particularly with regard to the drafting of scientific or science-based documents. Learning skills Promotion of critical thinking and analytical skills to focus on complex problems in their long-term dynamics and in the variety of their implications, including ethical ones.

Assessment
The closed book written exam will have 2 parts: Part 1 (1 hour) for all students with 2 questions covering different topics treated in the lectures, possibly with sub-questions, carrying equal weight, unless specified differently. Part 2 (30 minutes) for students who did NOT give a presentation with (an) additional question(s) focusing on the papers used for the student presentations. The final exam counts for 60% of the overall mark for students participating to presentations, and 100% for the other students.

Evaluation criteria
Presentations will be assessed along three dimensions: slides, oral presentation, and understanding. The final exam will assess knowledge and understanding of the topics covered.