INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL

ECONOMY

Political economy is a study of philosophy

and ideology that studies the evolution of
political and economic ideas. 

KAREN BELEN FELICES-PEREZ, LPT, MPA

INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL
ECONOMY

The study of political economics can be split into two

different sections, one which is 
Classical Political Economy and the other which is 
Modern Political Economy. 

KAREN BELEN FELICES-PEREZ, LPT, MPA

INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL
ECONOMY

Definitions

KAREN BELEN FELICES-PEREZ, LPT, MPA

INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL
ECONOMY

State: A state is a sovereign political institution which

governs over civil society, which is made up of
individuals.

KAREN BELEN FELICES-PEREZ, LPT, MPA

INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL
ECONOMY

Civil society: This is an organized

collection of individuals who participate in
various groups which make up the
society.

KAREN BELEN FELICES-PEREZ, LPT, MPA

INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL
ECONOMY

Power: Power, by the classical

sociological definition, is the use or threat
of force in order to influence other
people's actions.

KAREN BELEN FELICES-PEREZ, LPT, MPA

INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL
ECONOMY

Sovereignty: This is the legitimate use of

power in order to govern a body of
individuals. 

KAREN BELEN FELICES-PEREZ, LPT, MPA

INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL
ECONOMY

Individual: Individuals are people who live

and function within civil society and are
governed by the state.

KAREN BELEN FELICES-PEREZ, LPT, MPA

INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL
ECONOMY

Virtue: Virtue is the moral excellence of an individual.

KAREN BELEN FELICES-PEREZ, LPT, MPA

INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL
ECONOMY

Private property: Private property has been defined in

different ways across the theories, but it can be
generalized; private property is property that individuals
can appropriate for themselves, and which society and
the state have sanctioned the individual's right to use it in
whatever way he or she sees fit.

KAREN BELEN FELICES-PEREZ, LPT, MPA

INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL
ECONOMY

Capital: Capital is wealth used to make more wealth. 

KAREN BELEN FELICES-PEREZ, LPT, MPA

INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL
ECONOMY

Means of production: The means of production are those

inputs that are not capital or labor.

KAREN BELEN FELICES-PEREZ, LPT, MPA

INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL
ECONOMY

Labor: Labor is work produced by humans in order to

change raw materials into commodities.

KAREN BELEN FELICES-PEREZ, LPT, MPA

INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL
ECONOMY

Commodity: A commodity is an end product, with the

inputs of capital, labor, and means of production. 

KAREN BELEN FELICES-PEREZ, LPT, MPA

INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL
ECONOMY

Nation: A nation is a collection of individuals based on

some sort of commonality, whether that be a common
language, ethnicity, culture, or all of the above. 

KAREN BELEN FELICES-PEREZ, LPT, MPA

INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL
ECONOMY

Mercantilism: Mercantilism is a political economic system

based on the central belief that there is only a fixed amount
of wealth in the world and that the state should take
precedence over the individual in order to effectively
maximize its wealth.  

KAREN BELEN FELICES-PEREZ, LPT, MPA

INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL
ECONOMY

Liberalism: Liberalism is a political economic system based on

the central belief that wealth comes from labor and that there is a
flexible amount of wealth in the world. 

KAREN BELEN FELICES-PEREZ, LPT, MPA

INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL
ECONOMY

Marxism: Marxism is a political economic system based on

the central belief that wealth and private property is
detrimental and at times dangerous for individuals. 

KAREN BELEN FELICES-PEREZ, LPT, MPA

INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL
ECONOMY

Monarchy: A system of government with a king or queen as

the leader.

KAREN BELEN FELICES-PEREZ, LPT, MPA

INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL
ECONOMY

Democracy: A system of government wherein each individual

of the society has a direct influence over the development of
both domestic and foreign policy.

KAREN BELEN FELICES-PEREZ, LPT, MPA

INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL
ECONOMY

Socialism: A system of government where the state controls the factors of

production with the goal that institutions will one day be able to support
the communist utopia (and the elimination of both state and private
property).

KAREN BELEN FELICES-PEREZ, LPT, MPA

INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL
ECONOMY

Polyarchy: The most widely embraced system of government in

contemporary society, Polyarchy is a system in which a vast majority of
citizens are ruled over by a small cadre of the obscenely wealthy in a
system of representative democracy.

KAREN BELEN FELICES-PEREZ, LPT, MPA