1. Political economy and the comparative method Dr Roberto Espíndola Department of Development and Economic Studies Room P1.32 Pemberton ext. 3823 R.Espindola@Bradford.ac.uk

2. The Political Economy perspective... Or rather International Political Economy (IPE) It studies the interaction of political and economic structures It considers that interaction both historically and comparatively

3. Dominant theories in IPE Mercantilism or economic nationalism Liberalism Critical theories (Marxism, feminism, environmentalism)

4. Economic nationalism or merchantilism Key actor: the state Primacy of the political, the state is prior to the market Market relations shaped by political power IPE constituted through actions of rational states Conflict and cooperation? Realism

5. Liberalism Focus on individuals, and from the state to corporations, interest groups, NGOs Centred on the market, economic progress results from interaction of market actors Oppose intervention in markets View IPE as essentially cooperative, e.g. theory of comparative advantage

6. Critical perspective Focus on collectives, e.g. classes, gender groups Consider the market as exploitative and in need of control Explain IPE in terms of dependency, relations of dominance and exploitation

7. Our emphases to study the IPE of European integration Processes and institutions, rather than history or a characterisation of actors Seeking to study interactions at the supranational, national (intergovernmental) and subnational levels And we’ll do it from a comparative perspective

8. How de we compare in the Social Sciences? Well... We can compare like with like... Or can we compare different units?

9. In terms of method: Most similar systems design (MSSD) Most different systems design(MDSD)

10. Most similar systems design (MSSD) Researchers take cases that appear to be similar in as many ways as possible, in order to explain differences between them Example: Morlino's study of democratisation in Southern Europe

11. Most different systems design (MDS) Researchers take cases that are different, but where similar phenomena have occurred, seeking to explain those phenomena. Most different, similar outcomes. Example: Skocpol's analysis of revolutions in France, Russia and China

12. MSSD → individualising, variation finding MDSD → universalising, encompassing

13. MSSD Case 1Case 2 Var I a a Var II b b Var III c c Var X x 1 x 2 Var Y y 1 y 2 MDSD Case 1 Case 2 Var I a b Var II c d Var III e f Var X x 3 x 3 Var Y y 3 y 3