Introduction The course "Towards International Public Policy" which I taught in the Cracow University of Economics in Spring 2001 belongs to the group of courses from the discipline of International Political Economy. This course offers a supplementary training to the students of economics and management in the Cracow University of Economics. The course has introduced students to the study of international public policy issues in their economic and political dimensions. Special attention has been devoted to the problems of global governance and the institutional set-up indispensable for the delivery of international public goods. At the end of the course students should get a grasp of the importance of political and institutional arrangements for stable and durable international economic relations. Objectives of the course The course was designed to explore the fruitfulness of a notion of international public good when applied to the analysis of various economic and not strictly economic issue areas. The theory of international public goods was not only studied to help identify areas of potential co-operation between states, governments and international non-governmental actors, but also to understand why it is so difficult to initiate international co-operation and sustain it over longer periods. Learning Outcomes At the completion of the course students have been able to understand the dynamics of international public policies, to gather the information for an analysis of a given international public policy issue and to write a policy issue document or to create a web site devoted to a given international policy issue. Course Detail Lecture Synopsis Week 1 Introduction: The Sketch of a Theory of International Public Goods The lecture discusses the usefulness and limits of the economic approach to international politics. In brief, students learn criteria indispensable for the identification of international public goods (IPGs) and analyse mechanisms, which disturb or facilitate co-operation of international actors in provision of IPGs. Week 2 Main Actors and Mechanisms of International Co-operation The lecture introduces to students main typologies of actors in international political and economic life and it discusses the causes of the change in their relative importance. Students also get familiar with the basic mechanisms of international co-operation from spontaneous mutual adjustments, via negotiated multilateral agreements to hegemony and unilateral impositions. Week 3 Globalisation and International Regulatory Co-operation The lecture analyses the links between international co-operation and domestic regulatory regimes. The aim is to show that with the increasing intensity of international economic co-operation domestic regulatory regimes become crucial for its practical success. On the example of the parable of teleshopping students learn for example how international electronic commerce is dependent upon domestic regulations of telecommunication, health and safety standards or parcel delivery. Week 4 Managing Global Financial Instability The lecture discusses the causes of global financial instability and its consequences for international economic co-operation and the economic development of less advanced countries. Students also learn about the advantages and disadvantages of possible solutions to this problem: from external monitoring of domestic macroeconomic polices of individual countries to the creation of global lender of last resort.
Week 5 Managing International Health Problems With this lecture begins a series of meetings devoted to specific issues which can be included to the list of international public goods (and bads). This lecture focuses on explaining why public health even in distant countries has become a matter of concern for other countries and what various international initiatives try to achieve in order to reduce the exposure of international society to public health risks generated by the intensification of international economic exchanges and travels. Week 6 International Co-operation in Regulating Pharmaceutical Markets The lecture discusses potential and actual conflicts stemming from regulations of international trade in pharmaceuticals. These regulations should balance the protection of investors in research in pharmaceuticals (international patent law) with the need to assure safety of patients and speed in reaching new markets. Recent disputes over the costs of drugs to cure HIV patients illustrate the core of these problems. Week 7 Cultural Heritage as Public Good The lecture introduces the economic analysis (i.e., cost benefit analysis) of culture and cultural monuments. Students get insights into the role of economic justifications in decisions to support restoration works in places dispersed around the world and included in the list of world cultural monuments. Week 8 Managing Global Cyberspace Although the development of the Internet is chiefly a matter of activities of private firms and individuals, the emergence of "global cyberspace" calls for the analysis of the public role in broadening access to Internet and regulating its use. The lecture discuss major international initiatives in these area and mechanisms used to achieve public goals. Week 9 International Co-operation in Crime Prevention An increasing economic openness and acceleration of movements of funds, goods and people create larger room for international criminal activities like arms and drugs trafficking. The lecture discusses problems posed by international crime and forms of international co-operation to counter them. Week 10 International Co-operation in Preventing Money Laundering The creation of global financial markets makes it more difficult the control of sources of funds in circulation and hence the control of their legitimacy. Since money laundering is an international public bad, the lecture analyses the forms and problems related to international co-operation to counter it. Week 11 International Co-operation in Preventing Corruption Corruption becomes a serious obstacle to economic development in many countries in the World since it serves the corrupt elites of these countries and harms societies at large. The lecture shows students how various international organisations try to build into their programs anti-corruption checks and what various countries do to limit corrupt behaviour by multinational corporations. Week 12 Economic Openness: How Nations Can Take Advantage of It? Not denying the validity of theoretical case in favour of free trade the lecture discusses practical problems in freeing markets and stabilising international economic co-operation. Students discuss cases of international conflicts over trade issues and analyse policy mechanisms helping to prevent (or solve) such problems.
Week 13 Policies and Institutions for Delivery of Global Public Goods The lecture discusses the need for a new institutional framework to enhance and stabilise international economic co-operation. Students are involved in discussing how regionalism complements (and/or) substitutes globalisation in different parts of the world. In addition students should be able to analyse relative merits of various institutional solutions to the problems raised by economic globalisation. Week 14 Global Governance: Towards a World of Positive Sum Games – seminar with students debate Since a group of students prepared a web site on a chosen global public policy problem, students present their product and this serves as a basis for discussion concerning, among others, the following questions:
Student Assessment Students were assessed on a basis of a set of the following criteria:
Reading list
Required Reading:
Additional reading:
2. Main Actors and Mechanisms of International Co-operation Required reading:
Additional reading:
3. Globalisation and International Regulatory Co-operation Required reading:
Additional reading:
4. Managing Global Financial Instability Required reading:
Additional reading:
5. Managing International Health Problems Required reading:
Additional reading:
6. International Co-operation in Regulating Pharmaceutical Markets Required reading:
7. Cultural Heritage as Public Good Required reading:
8. Managing Global Cyberspace Required reading:
Additional reading: Arvind Panagariya,E-Commerce, WTO and Developing Countries, in The World Economy, 8/2000. 9. International Co-operation in Crime Prevention Required reading:
10. International Co-operation in Preventing Money Laundering Required Reading:
11. International Co-operation in Preventing Corruption Required reading:
12. Economic Openness: How Nations Can Take Advantage of It? Required reading:
13. Policies and Institutions for Delivery of Global Public Goods Required reading:
14. Global Governance: Towards a World of Positive Sum Games – debate with students Required reading:
Literature Textbooks (can be consulted for all sessions) George T. Crane and Abla Amawi, The Theoretical Evolution of International Political Economy, (New York: Oxford UP, 1991), Jeffrey Frieden and David Lake (eds), International Political Economy. Perspectives on Global Power and Wealth. (New York: Routledge, 1995). Steven Gill and David Law, The Global Political Economy (Hemel Hempstead; Harvester-Wheatsheaf, 1988). Robert Gilpin, The Political Economy of International Relations (Princeton: Princeton UP, 1987). Susan Strange, States and Markets (London: Pinter 1994, second edition). Richard Stubbs and Geoffry Underhill (eds), Political Economy and the Changing Global Order (London: Macmillan, 1994). Robert Tooze and Craig Murphy (eds), The New International Political Economy (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1991). Journals and Newspapers (to be followed regularly) International Organization; Review of International Political Economy; World Development; World Politics; The Economist; The Financial Times; Le Monde Diplomatique. Recommended additional reading and bibliography
Useful Internet Sites International Forum on Globalisation - www.ifg.org. The Internet page of Prof. Paul Krugman - www.mit.edu/krugman/www/ Global Public Policy Networks – www.globalpublicpolicy.net Sources related to the United Nations – www.library.yale.edu/un/ European Society of Regulatory Affairs – www.esra.org World Institute for Development Economics Research (WIDER) – www.wider.unu.edu Global Development Network – www.gdnet.org Other sources can be found on the web page of the Katedra Studiów Europejskich AE (www.ae.krakow.pl/~ekse/inne/ Teaching Methodology During the course the instructor used a variety of teaching methods: from classical lectures (with the use of transparencies), through multimedia presentations to case discussions. The comprehension of materials was controlled by questions and problems assigned for home research. Number of participating students The ideal number of students is between 15 and 20. 27 students participated in the course. Additional remarks about the course The course suits both the needs of students of political science (thanks to its focus on economic approach to international politics) and students of economics and business (thanks to the attention paid to institutional and political factors behind apparently purely economic matters). The risk of the course stems from the fact that a broad scope of problems analysed gives students only an abstract framework for understanding similarities and differences across various arenas of international politics. |