Center for New Institutional Social Sciences

Center for New Institutional Social Sciences

Institutional Social Analysis Minor Courses & Seminars

Required Courses
Below are descriptions of the various classes affiliated with the Minor in Institutional Social Analysis. The courses listed below constitute the Minor in Institutional Analysis. Each student must receive credit for two of the four classes listed immediately below, or receive a waiver from the administrator of the program.
Please check Course Books for prerequisites for these classes if they are not listed below

General Studies L43 2292 Ideas, Institutions, and Economics
This freshman seminar examines why some countries become rich, while others remain poor. It introduces students to key concepts including property rights, contracts, transaction costs, and the politics of development. Open only to freshmen. Prerequisite: Permission of Dean Kennedy

Economics L48 426 Economics Systems in Theory and Practice
Theory and practice of mercantilism, capitalism, and socialism. Primary emphasis on choices open to individuals; pecuniary and non-pecuniary prices paid to exercise these choices. Statistical evidence and case studies will be used. Course requirements include weekly written critique. Prerequisite: Econ 401

Political Science L11 333B Individual, Family, and Community
A course on the relationship between the individual and various forms of community, in the U.S. and in other societies. We examine interactions in family, school, and neighborhood, and the social bonds or divisions created therein. We also consider the place of group differences (gender, ethnic, religious) in law and in political life. Materials come from political theory, law, and the social sciences.

Political Science L11 4621 Politics and the Theory of Games
This course is intended to cover the basic concepts and major achievements of Game Theory in different sub-fields of research in the social sciences today. We will discuss examples of usefulness of cooperative and non-cooperative game theory to the study of human behavior in general and political science and political economy in particular.

Elective Courses
Students are required to take a total of 15 units of credit, of which at least 12 must be outside the department of the major. Courses may not be double-counted toward this minor and the student's major or other minors. Below is a listing of elective courses which students in the Minor can choose from.

Anthropology

Anthropology L48 160b Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
The basic concepts and theoretical principles of sociocultural anthropology. Case materials from Asia, Africa, Melanesia, Latin America, and North America.

Anthropology L48 352 Anthropology of Slavery
Examination of slavery as an institution in several areas of the world. Topics include international slavery, organization of slade trade, experience of slave women, role of slave labor in colonial economies, slave resistance and rebellion, the construction of slave communities, and the status of emancipated slaves. Regions of focus include the Americas, Africa, and the Indian Ocean.

Anthropology L48 4261 Systems of Inequality
This course examines systems of inequality in a variety of world regions, including the United States, and includes analysis of their causes and effects. The course will focus on theories of stratification along with case studies, including those focusing on social capital, individual rationality, biological determinism, social construction, cultural capital and social reproduction, and economic globalization. This course is not open to students who have taken Anthro 3261, Inequality, Hierarchy, and Difference.

Economics

Economics L11 326 American Economic History
Basic theoretical concepts applied to analyze the changing structure and performance of the American economy from colonial times to the present. Prerequisites: Econ 103B and 104B.

Economics L11 353 Law and Economics
Application of economics to law, including such topics as public regulation of the market, concepts of property rights in law and economics, the effect of property rights assignment on income distributions, negligence, no-fault insurance, deterrence and the economic theory of remedies, evidence on the deterrent effect of punishment, and the economics of organized crime. Emphasis is primarily on the application of theory to specific legal issues. Prerequisites: Econ 103B or permission of instructor.
Economics L11 452 Industrial Organization
Theoretical and empirical analysis of the presence and value of competitive forces in U.S. economy. Theories of industrial organization and development of criteria for performance of noncompetitive industries. Prerequisite: Econ 401

Economics L11 458 Theory of Property Rights
Develops a theory of property rights and explores the implication of various property rights structures for resource allocation and economic development. Theory developed by Ronald Coase, Harold Demsetz, Armen Alchian, Steven Cheung, and others will be examined and various types of property rights discussed such as sharecropping, slavery, serfdom, and property rights in modern market and socialist economies. Prerequisite: Econ 401 or consent of instructor. Note: Requests for on-line registration will be wait listed. Students must sign up for this course in the Economics Office, Eliot 205.

Law

Law W75 523S Law and Economics
This course will study the application of neoclassical price theory to a wide range of legal problems, such as torts, contracts, and property issues. Although the primary emphasis will be on neoclassical analysis, the course will also incorporate the new institutional economics.

Political Science

Political Science L32 3103 Constitutional Politics in the U.S.
This course is a study of several aspects of U.S. constitutional politics apart from Supreme Court decisions, including the convention and ratification, amendment, major changes without amendment, and problems in maintaining and applying the constitution. Prerequisite: PS 101B American Politics

Political Science L32 342b Elections and Reform
This course examines the problem of how polticians and policies are selected by citizens. Course will examin electoral systems and current proposals for electoral reform. Topics covered include proportional representation, term limits, campaign finance, and presidential elections.

Political Science L32 345 The Legislative Process
Structure and behavioral patterns of American legislative bodies. Primary emphasis on U.S. Congress with attention to state legislatures for comparative purposes. Prerequisite: Junior standing

Political Science L32 373 International Political Economy
Analysis of the interplay of economics and politics in the world arena, focused on political basis of economic policies in both advanced and less developed societies. Treating differing perspectives on the international economy, production, trade and finance, and international economic relations. Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of instructor

Political Science L32 4503 Topics in Political Thought: Order, Diversity, and Rule of Law
This course is a seminar in which we explore questions of social order and cooperation in culturally-diverse societies. This involves both a general consideration of processes by which social cooperation is achieved and maintained and a specific analysis of the implications of social diversity for these processes. Major topics to be considered include: social capital, trust, community, civil society, social norms, and the rule of law. Special emphasis is given to the relationship between formal (legal) and informal means of fostering cooperation.

Political Science L32 4761 Politics of International Finance
Global Finance underwent stunning transformations over the past 30 years. The changes contribute to interdependence, challenge national sovereignty, alter state-society relations, affect economic development and influence the distribution of wealth and power in global political economy. The seminar examines the political economy of monetary relations and the globalizatino of capital markets.

Political Science L32 369 Politics of International Trade
No description currently available.

Political Science L32 4792 Globalization and National Politics
This seminar examines globalization and its interaction with national politics. Politicians, policy makers and societies discover new opportunities, but also dilemmas as expanding interdependence challenges traditional notions of sovereignty and national political autonomy.

Political Science L32 480 Topics in International Politics: Growth and Development
No description currently available

Research Experience
After completing two courses in the Minor in Institutional Analysis, students may apply to participate in a research program with the participation of the faculty supervisor. Students will be chosen on the basis of their academic record and appropriateness of the research project. Up to 10 students will be selected each year. Students who are approved for this program will receive 3 credit hours for the course ISA L65 400 Research Experience in Institutional Analysis. Students will be expected to devote at least 10 hours a week to this research.

Summer Program Courses for Ph.D. Students
New Institutional Social Sciences I and II must be taken prior to any other courses listed below. These classes are offered through University College.

L11 5291 New Institutional Social Sciences I: Economics
This course will survey the methodology, the theory and the empirical work in New Institutional Economics. There will be four components: A brief review of the strengths and limitations of neoclassical economics; an examination of the role of institutions-rules of the game-as an extension of neoclassical economics; an analysis of how we measure institutions with particular focus on the literature of transaction costs. In addition, all students will prepare written abstracts and questions on articles reviewed in class and make a presentation on their own research. Prerequisite: At least second year graduate level. University College students require the approval of the Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs (935-6700).

L32 5042 New Institutional Social Sciences II: Politics
The purpose of this course is to provide an introduction at the Ph.D. level to New Institutional Social Sciences. We will follow closely two texts: Political Bargaining: Theory Process and Practice by Gideon Doron and Itai Sened and Douglass C. North's Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance. Each of these books proposes a different theory of institutions and a different theory of institutional change. The purpose of this course is to explore these theories and suggest them as a rather humble starting point for future study of institutions and institutional change. Prerequisite: At least second year graduate level. University College students require the approval of the Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs (935-6700).

L48 544 Fundamentals of Sociocultural Anthropology
This course provides an introduction to anthropology at the graduate level for nonspecialists in sociocultural anthropology. Topics include the relationship between ecological systems and social and economic institutions; language and culture; gender roles and family systems; social change and conflict; and the connection between culture and political and economic development. This class is required for students affiliated with CNISS. University College students require the approval of the Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs (935-6700).

L32 577 Financial Globalization: Market Failures and State Institutions
This seminar begins by examining economic and political market failure in global and domestic financial arenas. We define market failures as sub-optimal collective outcomes that are produced by the aggregation of individual choices embedded in social contexts. We then investigate the role of political institutional arrangmements in mitigating or exacerbating such failures. University College students require the approval of the Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs (935-6700).

L32 5013 Justice and Legitimacy
Under what conditions should people obey the law? Under what conditions does the state have the right to coerce citizens to obey the law? Are these the same questions, or are there cases, for example, in which a state has a right to coerce obedience, even if the citizen should not obey the law? These are the questions of Justice and Legitimacy and we will approach them from thematic and historical perspectives. We begin with a statement of Justice in Plato's Republic, followed by its counterpoint in the Social Contract theory of Hobbes Locke, to set up two very different answers to these questions, illustrating the theoretical tension between Justice and Legitimacy. We end with contemporary engagements on this problem including the work of John Rawls, his critics and other contemporary social choice theorists. Prerequisite: At least second year graduate level. University College students require the approval of the Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs (935-6700).

L11 5292 Legal Framework for Economic Growth
This course, an advanced version of Theory of Property Rights (Econ. 458), will focus on the law's role in economic growth. It will cover various aspects of the law and economy, ranging from constitutional issues, to commercial law, to various regulatory regimes. Although the primary focus will be on the law, the course will also integrate economic and political analysis. Prerequisite: At least second year graduate level. University College students require the approval of the Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs (935-6700).