Program in Political Economy Track
The Department of Economics offers offers a Program in Political Economy (PPE) track for economics majors interested in studying issues at the intersection of Economics and Politics.
Program participants meet all the requirements of economics majors, and, in addition: (1) complete two politics courses at any level before entering the program; (2) complete three 300-level (or higher) politics courses during junior and senior years; and (3) conduct junior independent work with a political economy component. Politics courses approved as economics cognates may also count toward the program’s requirements. Admission to the program takes place at the beginning of the junior year, in consultation with the political economy adviser in economics. Majors who successfully complete the program’s requirements will receive a departmental attestation.
Applications for the Program in Political Economy can be submitted online. Deadline to apply for Class of 2028 is September 15, 2026.
Apply here
Joining the Program in Political Economy
To enter the program, the student should satisfy the prerequisites for majoring in both the politics and the economics departments by the end of sophomore year. This means students entering the program must have completed ECO 100, ECO 101, MAT 175 or MAT 201 or ECO 201, ECO 202 and two politics courses (at any level) and received a grade of C or better in each course.
Program in Political Economy course requirements
In addition to the two politics prerequisites, a PPE student must complete three politics departmental courses, i.e., politics courses at the 300 level or higher, on a graded basis. One of these, upon approval of the political economy adviser, can be a politics-related course from a department other than politics or economics. Politics courses are not included in the student’s departmental average (unless a course has been approved as an economics cognate).
Because of these additional requirements, a PPE student may want to count one or two of the politics departmental courses as economics cognates. Approval of cognates is subject to the same rules as for other economics majors. Economics cognates are approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies and under no circumstances is approval given retroactively. POL 347, POL 349, POL 352 and POL 385 are automatically approved as economics cognates and do not need a separate application/approval. Infrequently, and only with advance approval, an economics course can be counted toward the politics course requirement of the PPE; contact the political economy faculty adviser.
Independent work for Program in Political Economy students
A student in the political-economic track has the same junior and senior independent work requirements as other economics majors, with one exception. Political Economy majors are required to write a junior paper with sufficient political economy content, as judged by the adviser. Students are also encouraged but are not required to write a senior thesis that is related to political economy.
More information is available by contacting the political economy faculty adviser.