Political Economy

Political economy is the study of production and trade and their relations with law, custom and government; and with the distribution of national income and wealth. As a discipline, political economy originated in moral philosophy, in the 18th century, to explore the administration of states' wealth, with "political" signifying the Greek word polity and "economy" signifying the Greek word "okonomie" (household management). The earliest works of political economy are usually attributed to the British scholars Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, and David Ricardo, although they were preceded by the work of the French physiocrats, such as François Quesnay (1694–1774) and Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot (1727–1781).

In the late 19th century, the term "economics" gradually began to replace the term "political economy" with the rise of mathematical modelling coinciding with the publication of an influential textbook by Alfred Marshall in 1890. Earlier, William Stanley Jevons, a proponent of mathematical methods applied to the subject, advocated economics for brevity and with the hope of the term becoming "the recognised name of a science". Citation measurement metrics from Google Ngram Viewer indicate that use of the term "economics" began to overshadow "political economy" around roughly 1910, becoming the preferred term for the discipline by 1920. Today, the term "economics" usually refers to the narrow study of the economy absent other political and social considerations while the term "political economy" represents a distinct and competing approach.

Political economy, where it is not used as a synonym for economics, may refer to very different things. From an academic standpoint, the term may reference Marxian economics, applied public choice approaches emanating from the Chicago school and the Virginia school. In common parlance, "political economy" may simply refer to the advice given by economists to the government or public on general economic policy or on specific economic proposals developed by political scientists. A rapidly growing mainstream literature from the 1970s has expanded beyond the model of economic policy in which planners maximize utility of a representative individual toward examining how political forces affect the choice of economic policies, especially as to distributional conflicts and political institutions. It is available as a stand-alone area of study in certain colleges and universities.

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Matching Political Economy Colleges

University of Washington-Bothell Campus

Four or more years; Public; $38,757 average out-state tuition; $10,927 average in-state tuition

SUNY College at Old Westbury

Four or more years; Public; $16,980 average out-state tuition; $7,070 average in-state tuition

Georgetown University

Four or more years; Private not for profit; $59,784 average out-state tuition; $59,784 average in-state tuition

Tulane University of Louisiana

Four or more years; Private not for profit; $56,684 average out-state tuition; $56,684 average in-state tuition

University of Southern California

Four or more years; Private not for profit; $60,446 average out-state tuition; $60,446 average in-state tuition

University of Puget Sound

Four or more years; Private not for profit; $55,390 average out-state tuition; $55,390 average in-state tuition

Rhodes College

Four or more years; Private not for profit; $50,600 average out-state tuition; $50,600 average in-state tuition

Scholarships for Political Economy Majors

Bullet name award deadline Link
 

Ohio LSC Legislative Fellowship

Ohio Legislative Service Commission

$42,000 Varies See Details
 

Ohio LSC Legislative Fellowship

Ohio Legislative Service Commission

award

$42,000

deadline

Varies
See Details
 

Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellowship

Scoville Peace Fellowship Program

Up to $27,000 January 08, 2024 See Details
 

Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellowship

Scoville Peace Fellowship Program

award

Up to $27,000

deadline

January 08, 2024
See Details
 

Humanities Scholars Program - University of Maryland, Baltimore County

University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Up to $22,000 January 15, 2024 See Details
 

Humanities Scholars Program - University of Maryland, Baltimore County

University of Maryland, Baltimore County

award

Up to $22,000

deadline

January 15, 2024
See Details
 

UNCF Social Justice Scholarship

UNCF, Inc

$5,000 December 14, 2023 See Details
 

UNCF Social Justice Scholarship

UNCF, Inc

award

$5,000

deadline

December 14, 2023
See Details
 

Raftelis Leadership Scholarship

American Water Works Association

$5,000 December 19, 2023 See Details
 

Raftelis Leadership Scholarship

American Water Works Association

award

$5,000

deadline

December 19, 2023
See Details
 

Mueller HBCU Scholarship

American Water Works Association

$5,000 December 19, 2023 See Details
 

Mueller HBCU Scholarship

American Water Works Association

award

$5,000

deadline

December 19, 2023
See Details
 

J and L Presidential Scholarship

American Water Works Association

$5,000 December 19, 2023 See Details
 

J and L Presidential Scholarship

American Water Works Association

award

$5,000

deadline

December 19, 2023
See Details
 

Gannett Fleming Forces of Change Scholarship

American Water Works Association

$5,000 December 19, 2023 See Details
 

Gannett Fleming Forces of Change Scholarship

American Water Works Association

award

$5,000

deadline

December 19, 2023
See Details
 

Denver Water Centennial Scholarship

American Water Works Association

$5,000 December 19, 2023 See Details
 

Denver Water Centennial Scholarship

American Water Works Association

award

$5,000

deadline

December 19, 2023
See Details
 

ISI Graduate Fellowship

Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI)

Up to $15,000 January 19, 2024 See Details
 

ISI Graduate Fellowship

Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI)

award

Up to $15,000

deadline

January 19, 2024
See Details