The branch of economics that applies the principles and methodology of economics to the operation of the political process is known as?

Answer 1

microeconomics


There is no branch of economics that deals with the political process (of government). Similarly it seems that politicians have little or no direct understanding of economics even though they do participate in its national management.

Economic Perspective:

This isn't entirely true. 'Political Economics' is an attempt to take economic concepts and apply them to politics in order to explain various observed phenomenon (the pervasiveness of political corruption, regulatory agency acted to protect the regulated, etc.). Whether this can be rightly called a 'branch of economics' is unlikely. In regards to the opinion immediately following this, 'Political Science' has never been 'economics' (although it was referred to as 'political economy' in its infancy). Likewise, the assertion that economics necessarily deals with mathematics and quantifying the 'unmeasurable' is a pervasive myth. Economics is a way of thinking--an examination of incentives, trade offs, and allocation of resources. As such, it provides much of the structure behind pseudo-political theories like 'Public Choice Theory' and the 'Capture Theory of Regulation'.

Political Science Perspective:

Before we had the general term "economics" as the name of the subject it was called "Political Science". This was intended to serve the subject of how people are organized in society when they work and produce and distribute their produce with the help of money. However the term "Political Economics" as mentioned above, is far from being as exact as the "science" part of "political science" implies. I fail to see how the name "Political Economics" applies even to the political phenemona which have doubtful meaning except on a specific politician's aspect. Are we really concerned as scientists on the amout of (unmeasurable) corruption that goes on in these circles?