| LEC # | TOPICS | READINGS | READING QUESTIONS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction: Paradigms and Social science |  Kuhn, Thomas. Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1996. ISBN: 9780226458083. | |
| 2 | Theories of the Liberal State and Politics | Locke, John. Second Treatise on Civil Government. Chapters 1-5 and 7-9. Berlin, Isaiah. "Two Concepts of Liberty." In Four Essays on Liberty. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1990. ISBN: 9780192810342. Federalist Paper #10. | Questions (PDF) |
| 3 | Neo-Classical Theories of the Economies | Friedman, Milton. Capitalism and Freedom. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1982, pp. 1-55, 108-137, and 161-190. ISBN: 9780226264011. Becker, Gary. The Economic Approach to Human Behavior. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1978, chapters 1, 8, 12, and 13. ISBN: 9780226041124. Recommended Dobb, Maurice. Theories of Value and Distribution since Adam Smith. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1973. ISBN: 9780521201001. | Questions (PDF) |
| 4 | Liberal and Neo-Classical Approaches | Olson, Mancur. The Logic of Collective Action. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971, chapters 1-4. ISBN: 9780674537514. Hayek, Frederich. Individualism and Economic Order. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1996, chapters 1, 2, 4, and 5. ISBN: 9780226320939. Recommended Harsanyi, John. "Rational-Choice Models of Political Behavior vs. Functionalist and Conformist Theories." World Politics XXI (October 1968 - June 1969): 513-537. | Questions (PDF) |
| 5 | Marxist Politics | Marx, Karl. "The Communist Manifesto." In The Marx & Engels Reader. Edited by Robert C. Tucker. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 1978, pp. 469-500. ISBN: 9780393090406. ———. Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy. (Preface) The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon. (Read in entirety, not in Tucker version.) A version of The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon may be downloaded from Project Gutenberg. Recommended Gramsci, Antonio. Selections From the Prison Notebooks of Antonio Gramsci. Edited by Quintin Hoare and Geoffrey Nowell Smith. London, UK: Electric Book Co., 2001, pp. 1-276. ISBN: 1843271192. | Questions (PDF) |
| 6 | Marxist Economics and Value Theory | Marx, Karl. "Capital. " In The Marx & Engels Reader. Edited by Robert C. Tucker. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 1978, pp. 294-465. ISBN: 9780393090406. Howard, M. C., and J. E. King. The Political Economy of Marx. New York, NY: New York University Press, 1988, pp. 1-180. ISBN: 9780814734537. Rubin, I. I. Essays on Marx's Theory of Value . Montreal, Canada: Black Rose Books, 1996, chapters Introduction 1, 8, 18. ISBN: 9780919618183. | Questions (PDF) |
| 7 | Macroeconomics and Theories of Growth | Keynes, J. M. The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money. New York, NY: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1965, chapters 1-3, 8-13, 24. ISBN: 9780156347112. Akerlof, George A. "Behavioral Macroeconomics and Macroeconomic Behavior." American Economic Review 92, no. 3 (June 2002): 411-433. Stiglitz, Joseph E. "Information and the Change in the Paradigm in Economics." American Economic Review 92, no. 3 (June 2002): 460-501. Romer, Paul. "The Origins of Endogenous Growth." Journal of Economic Perspectives 8, no. 1 (1994): 3-22. Recommended Mankiw, Gregory. "A Quick Refresher Course in Macroeconomics." Journal of Economic Literature 28, no. 4 (1990). Solow, Robert. "Perspectives on Growth Theory." Journal of Economic Perspectives 8, no. 1 (1994): 45-54. | |
| 8 | Sociological Theories of Capitalism | Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. New York, NY: Routledge, 2001, chapters Introduction, 1-3, and 5. ISBN: 9780415254069. | Questions (PDF) |
| 9 | Sociological Theories of Capitalism (cont.) | Polanyi, Karl. The Great Transformation. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1971, chapters 3-14. ISBN: 9780807056790. | Questions (PDF) |
| 10 | Cultural Theories of Capitalism | Sahlins, Marshall. Culture and Practical Reason. Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press, 1978, chapters 1, 3, and 5. ISBN: 9780226733616. | Questions (PDF) |
| Analyzing Groups in Society: New Paradigms? | |||
| 11 | Corporatism | Stepan, Alfred. The State and Society: Peru in Comparative Perspective. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1978, chapters 1-2. ISBN: 9780691021799. Dulles, Avery. Models of the Church. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1974, chapters 1 and 3. ISBN: 9780385080699. | |
| 12 | Institutionalism | North, Douglas. Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1990. ISBN: 9780521397346. Recommended Immergut, Ellen M. "The Theoretical Core of the New Institutionalism." Politics and Society 8, no. 1 (March 1998): 5-34. | |
| 13 | New Institutionalism | Hall, Peter, and David Soskice. Varieties of Capitalism. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 1-68. ISBN: 9780199247752. | |
Table of Contents
Study Materials
Readings
| When you click the Amazon logo to the left of any citation and purchase the book (or other media) from Amazon.com, MIT OpenCourseWare will receive up to 10% of this purchase and any other purchases you make during that visit. This will not increase the cost of your purchase. Links provided are to the US Amazon site, but you can also support OCW through Amazon sites in other regions. Learn more. |
Readings questions are not available for every session.