International Political Economy

The International Political Economy (IPEC) major investigates the rich intersection between economics and politics in the global environment. It typically goes beyond the constituent disciplines by combining traditional economic concerns about efficiency with traditional political concerns regarding distributional issues and legitimacy in market and non-market environments.  The resulting combination of insights provides a means of better  understanding complex interactions at the local, national and international levels.

The special character of international political economy derives in part from the methodological and substantive overlaps between the traditional disciplines of economics and political science. Methodologically, political economy combines formal modeling, comparative methods, and statistical techniques to analyze and evaluate competing theories of economic and political phenomena.  In addition to using methods standard in the constituent disciplines, political economy has pioneered in developing new tools for the study of collective action in the presence of conflicting private interests.

Substantively, International Political Economy analyzes how international and domestic political factors interact with economic factors to determine outcomes in a wide variety of areas, e.g., legislation, elections, government regulation, and policy formation in response to international phenomena; unilateral and multilateral activities involving international trade, finance, aid, and natural resources; local and international growth, development, and income distribution; and the interaction between business, governments, and diplomacy. The scope of inquiry ranges from mature capitalist countries, to developing economies to nations making transitions to capitalist systems.  In all cases, the focus is on issues that cannot be properly understood without insights gained from both international economics and international politics.

All students must demonstrate proficiency in mathematics by one of three means: Passing MATH-035 Calculus I, score of 4 or higher in AP Calculus, or passing the Math Department Calculus I waiver test.

The Mathematics Department waiver test is an option suitable for students who studied calculus in high school but did not have the opportunity to take the AP exam. It is administered during the New Student Orientation period just before the beginning of the fall semester. Note that calculus is a prerequisite for Intermediate Microeconomics and Economic Statistics.

It is recommended that students satisfy the calculus requirement before the beginning of the sophomore year.

The following 4 preparatory courses.  These courses should be taken before senior year.

• ECON 101/103 Intermediate Microeconomics
• ECON 121 Economic Statistics
• ECON 122 Introduction to Econometrics
• GOVT 261 International Political Economy (renumbered from GOVT 288 effective fall 2014)

ECON 101/103 should be completed during sophomore year, since it is a pre-requisite for PECO 201. ECON 121 should be completed by the first semester of junior year, since it is a pre-requisite for ECON 122. GOVT 261 targets sophomores and juniors. It is offered once a year, in either of the semesters. Students going abroad in the junior year should look into taking GOVT 261 in the sophomore year, as long as GOVT 060 International Relations has been completed.

Two Interdisciplinary Courses in Political Economy.

• PECO 201 Analytical Tools for Political Economy (offered every fall)
• IPEC 401 Senior Seminar in Political Economy (offered every spring)

PECO 201 is ideally completed during junior year. IPEC 401 must be completed at Georgetown.

4 courses from the IPEC Core and IPEC Supporting course lists, at least two of which must be IPEC Core courses.

SEQUENCING

Analytical Tools for Political Economy (PECO-201) is designed to introduce majors to the methods used in the discipline along with their applications. Topics in International Political Economy (IPEC-310) is designed to introduce majors to a number of substantive issues in the discipline. Both are therefore best taken in the junior year. Because Intermediate Microeconomics (ECON-101/103) is a prerequisite for both courses, all majors are urged to take Intermediate Microeconomics in the sophomore year. (Note that ECON-101/103 has calculus as a prerequisite.)

QUANTITATIVE METHODS

Analyzing data, whether to test hypotheses or to summarize trends, is an important part of studying international political economy. As a result, all majors are required to take statistics and econometrics, and are encouraged to do so as early as possible, preferably no later than the end of their junior year. (Statistics and econometrics are essential in writing the senior thesis in IPEC-401.)

December Graduates: Some students who have accumulated sufficient credits elect to graduate early. To do so, students need to plan ahead. All majors must take the senior seminar, IPEC-401, which is offered in the spring semester. Any student planning to graduate early therefore needs to take this seminar in the junior year.

• SAT - Georgetown's SAT code is 5244. Georgetown only considers the critical reading and math portions of the SAT, not the writing section. If an applicant takes the SAT more than once, the admissions committees will consider the highest critical reading score and the highest math score from multiple test sessions when reviewing the application.
• ACT - Georgetown's ACT code is 0668. Georgetown accepts the ACT in lieu of the SAT. Applicants who take the ACT more than once will have their highest composite score considered in the evaluation process. The optional writing section on the ACT is not required, nor is the writing subscore used in the application review process.
• SAT Subject Tests - It is strongly recommended that all candidates, whether they have taken the SAT Reasoning Test or the ACT, submit three SAT Subject Tests scores. The scores from writing portion on the SAT Reasoning Test and the optional writing portion of the ACT will not be used in place of a Subject Test.
• TOEFL - Georgetown's TOEFL code is 5244. TOEFL is recommended for candidates studying in non-U.S. educational systems and whose native language is not English. Georgetown also does accept results from the IELTS. Please contact either the Educational Testing Service (ETS) or the American College Testing Program (ACT) for details about this exam.
• If you will graduate from a school with a final examination such as the British A-Levels, Cambridge Pre-U, German Abitaur, French Baccalaureat, or International Baccalaureate, you will need to submit both Projected and Final results. These should be included in the Secondary School Report sent from your college counselor, teacher or the Head of School.

Want to improve your English level for admission?

Prepare for the program requirements with English Online by the British Council.

• ✔️ Flexible study schedule
• ✔️ Experienced teachers
• ✔️ Certificate upon completion

📘 Recommended for students with an IELTS level of 6.0 or below.

Enroll in the course

Scholarships

Georgetown University is Need-Blind for all applicants.

Admitted students who have requested financial aid and are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents will be considered for a very limited number of need-based scholarships. To be considered for one of these scholarships, the student/applicant will need to indicate their intent to apply for financial aid on the Application for Undergraduate Admission and should submit a CSS/Financial Aid Profile online at http://www.collegeboard.com. For further details, please see the Office of Student Financial Services website.

Whether admitted either under our Early Action or Regular Decision review periods, all candidates for financial aid will be notified about their eligibility for aid, their financial aid awards or about missing documents during the first week of April.

Please note that we are now using the CSS/Financial Aid Profile in place of the International Student Financial Aid form.