Political Science

This course studies the relationship between economic crises and the cluster of policy solutions known as austerity. It explores why austerity is often seen as the most efficacious solution to economic downturn, and considers whether resorting to austerity in the present repeats errors of the past in light of the history of crises of capitalism. The course reviews the intellectual roots of austerity and examines the institutional and ideational factors that explain its widespread use by policy-makers in the present period. It considers whether austerity as a policy package is either compatible with or sustainable under democratic politics. The course examines the social impact of austerity budgeting in areas such as public health and discusses the emergent politics of anti-austerity on both sides of the political spectrum. It draws mostly on literature from the political science subfields of comparative and international economy, as well as the fields of macroeconomics, economic history, sociology and public health.

This course examines both the evolution of United States foreign policy in the post-Trump era and the strategic challenges confronting the United States and its allies in a changing world environment. It does so through cross views from the transatlantic community of scholars combining academics, think tank fellows, former policy makers, and administration officials from both sides of the Atlantic. Given the evolutions in the strategic environment, the emphasis is on the future of transatlantic relations and United States relations with NATO in the context of power competition; the questioning of military cooperation and the American Way of War in the Middle East and Africa; the pursuit of the United States strategy in the Indo-Pacific region and the future of the United States-China rivalry and interdependency; the challenges of new forms of power competition with the two identified revisionist powers: China and Russia; the future of American power on new battlefields: in cyber and information warfare that are part of the game of power politics of today; and redefining American alliances.

This course examines the policy and regulatory implications of the latest developments in virtual reality, artificial intelligence, smart cities, the platform economy, and other areas. It looks at how policymakers in Hong Kong, the rest of China, and other parts of the world adapt to the digital era and the challenges they face in implementing public policy using big data and AI technologies.

This course addresses how institutions constrain and enable the potential for political cooperation and shape political decision making. In particular, through the readings, the course investigates key questions of political analysis including how institutions are designed, how they shape individual and collective behavior, how they vary over time, and how they are resisted.