APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2013/2014

GRA 5914 Global Politics: International Political Economy and World Trade

Responsible for the course
Kjell A Eliassen

Department
Department of Accounting - Auditing and Law

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
6

Language of instruction
English

Introduction
This is an introductory international political economy course and requires no previous knowledge. It has been designed for the ‘Minor in Political Economy’ specialization. The central focus is on global politics and international trade, the processes of globalization that drive change in international political economy, and international organizations and regimes designed to manage international trade and the world economy. The course includes case studies of world trade, and sectors such as energy and information technology.

Learning outcome
The course addresses international developments since the end of the Cold War – more specifically trends and patterns related to democratisation, economic growth and trade as well as stability or change in international relations. It covers theories of international relations, and addresses the great questions of international political economy, including the ‘end of history’ thesis, the relationship between democracy and economic growth/stability, developments in world trade and efforts to build sustainable international institution to regulate this.
The course also addresses the EU’s external relations, including some focus on Norway’s relationship with the EU and international free trade regimes. It is designed to provide students with tools and frameworks for analysing current debates and controversies related to the widening of the EU and the EU's relationship with Norway and the rest of the world through organisations such as the WTO, as well as the current debates on the design and operation of international organisations such as the institutions that have been established to liberalise (GATT) and manage (WTO) world trade or issues such as climate change (Kyoto). Institutional design of other international organisations related to democracy, security and human rights are also addressed.

Prerequisites
Bachelor's degree qualifying for admission to the MSc Programme

Compulsory reading
Books:
Baylis, John, Steve Smith and Patricia Owens, eds. 2011. The Globalization of world politics : an introduction to international relations. 5th ed. Oxford University Press
Dicken, Peter. 2011. Global shift : mapping the changing contours of the world economy. 6th ed. Sage

Other:
-During the course there may be hand-outs and other material on additional topics relevant for the course and the examination.
A list of compulsory readings will be provided on It's learning or in class.


Recommended reading
Books:
Balaam, David N., Bradford Dillman. 2011. Introduction to international political economy. 5th ed. Longman
Dillon, Sara. 2002. International trade and economic law and the European Union. Hart
Economides, Spyros and Peter Wilson. 2001. The economic factor in international relations : a brief introduction. I. B. Tauris
El-Agraa, Ali M. 2011. The European Union : economics and policies. 9th ed. Cambridge University Press
Emerson, Michael, Marius Vahl and Stephen Woolcock. 2002. Navigating by the stars : Norway, the European Economic Area and the European Union. Centre for European Policy Studies
Gilpin, Robert. 2001. Global political economy : understanding the international economic order. Princeton University Press
Hill, Christopher and Michael Smith, eds. 2011. International relations and the European Union. 2nd ed. Oxford University Press
Landes, David S. 1998. The wealth and poverty of nations : why some are so rich and some so poor. W.W. Norton
Oatley, Thomas H. 2012. International political economy. 5th international ed. Longman/Pearson
Ravenhill, John. 2011. Global political economy. 3rd ed. Oxford University Press
Stubbs, Richard and Geoffrey R. D. Undershill, eds. 2006. Political economy and the changing global order. 3rd ed. Oxford University Press
Young, John and John Kent. 2013. International relations since 1945 : a global history. 2nd ed. Oxford University Press

Other:
Individual journal articles and book chapters available in the library and/or electronically will be recommended as further reading.


Course outline
1. Stability and change in international relations since the end of the Cold War, and International Relations theory
2. Globalisation and new patterns of international politics
3. International Political Economy
4. International trade from GATT to WTO, free trade and development; international regimes and regulation.
5. The EU’s relationship with other international organisations and its role in global politics, with particular focus on free trade regimes (the WTO) and the relationship with the USA.
6. Norway’s changing links with the EU, and her participation in international institutions.

Computer-based tools
It's learning

Learning process and workload
A course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of 160-180 hours.
Please note that while attendance is not compulsory in all courses, it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on the course homepage/It's learning or text book.


Examination
Your course grade will be based on the following activities and weights:
30% Class work (in the form of a mix of some/ all of the following: hand in of case write ups, projects, and homeworks; case presentations and class participation; in class midterm and quizzes).
Final written 3 hour exam accounts for 70% of the grade.
Both parts of the evaluation need to be passed in order to get a grade in the course.

Specific information regarding student evaluation beyond the information given in the course description will be provided in class. This information may be relevant for requirements for term papers or other hand-ins, and/or where class participation can be one of several elements of the overall evaluation.

This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam elements) and one final exam code. Each exam element will be graded using points on a scale (e.g. 0-100). The elements will be weighted together according to the information in the course description in order to calculate the final letter grade for the course. You will find detailed information about the point system and the cut off points with reference to the letter grades on the course site in It’s learning.

Examination code(s)
GRA 59141 continuous assessment accounts for 100 % of the final grade in the course GRA 5914.

Examination support materials
A bilingual dictionary.
Exam aids at written examiniations are explained under exam information in the student portal @bi. Please note use of calculator and dictionary in the section on examaids

Re-sit examination
It is only possible to retake an examination when the course is next taught.
The assessment in some courses is based on more than one exam code.
Where this is the case, you may retake only the assessed components of one of these exam codes.
Where this is not the case, all of the assessed components of the course must be retaken.
All retaken examinations will incur an additional fee.

Additional information
Honor Code
Academic honesty and trust are important to all of us as individuals, and represent values that are encouraged and promoted by the honor code system. This is a most significant university tradition. Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the ideals of the honor code system, to which the faculty are also deeply committed.

Any violation of the honor code will be dealt with in accordance with BI’s procedures for cheating. These issues are a serious matter to everyone associated with the programs at BI and are at the heart of the honor code and academic integrity. If you have any questions about your responsibilities under the honor code, please ask.