EC 852
Economics
Public Choice II
Spring 2003
GMU: Ent 318



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Professor:    Roger D. Congleton

Office :    11  Carow Hall 
Phone:  993 2328  office 
E-Mail: Congleto@gmu.edu
WebPage:  rdc1.net

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Office Hours:  Tuesday and Wednesday 2:30 - 3:30, and most other times by appointment .

Recommended Texts:

Mueller, D. C. (1996) Constitutional Democracy. New York: Oxford University Press.

Persson, T. and Tabellini, G. E. (2000) Political Economics: Explaining Economic Policy. Cambridge Mass: MIT Press. 

Congleton, R.D. (2003, forthcoming) Improving Democracy through Constitutional Reform, Some Swedish Lessons. Kluwer Academic Press. 

Some Useful Links
J-Stor
Journals
Public Choice Society
FEC
US Constitution  / Constitutions
Elections Market
Gallup
RDC1.Net
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 Syllabus
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Dates Lectures Text Readings  (See Syllabus for complete reading list)
1/22 I. The Origin of Government M: Ch. 3-5, 18; PT: Ch. 2
1/29 II. Elected Governments M: Ch. 7; 
PT: Ch 3
2/5 III. Elections and Public Policies M: ch 8, 9 ; 
PT: Ch 6, 12
2/12  IV. Democractic Cycles and Public Policy  M: ch.10; PT: ch. 16
2/19 V.  Elections and Interest Groups M: ch. 16, PT: ch. 4
2/26 VI.  How Efficient is Democracy? M: ch 10;  PT: ch 9 



3/5  VII. Rent Seeking   /  Interest Group Politics M: ch 4, PT: ch 7
3/12  NO CLASS SPRING BREAK --see you next week
3/19 Midterm Exam Due 
Suggested Paper Topics
3/19 VIII. Governance and Graft M: ch 2, 19; PT: ch 14
3/26 IX. Politics, the Bureaucracy and Regulation M: ch 17; PT: ch 4
4/2 X. Regulation: Empirical Findings
4/9 XI. International Political Economy M: ch 4,  PT: 18
4/16 XII. Political Institutions and Economic Development M: ch. 4; PT: ch 14
4/23  XIII. Informal Contitutions:  Cultural Norms as Institutions
4/30 XIV. Student Papers Presented in a Seminar Format 
    (and Rough Drafts Collected)

5/7 XV. Overview of Course: Constitutional Design
                   Choosing Institutions,

5/14  FINAL PAPERS DUE  AT CAROW HALL 







Course Grades : 

      10-15 page paper    30%
     Midterm Exam (take home) 30%
  Final Exam (take home) 30%
    1- pagers and class participation     10%