OAFP 9500 - Money and Private Influence in Politics

In this course, we will focus on when, how, and why money and private influence shape politics and policy-making. To do so, we will first clarify key concepts, such as corruption and capture, before identifying relevant types of actors and their motivations. We will then examine different possible avenues for how special interests can influence the political process, including through the selection of decision-makers, shaping the broader public policy agenda, influence on the legislative process or regulatory policy-making, and the enforcement of laws and regulations. We will approach questions such as “Why does the amount of money in politics vary so much across countries?”, “When is lobbying likely to be successful?”, “To what extent does money in politics corrupt democratic processes?” in a rigorous manner, thinking carefully about what is required to make causal claims, and drawing to a large extent on recent state-of-the-art academic research. Normative considerations will also play an important part in the course, and we will examine proposals for reform with a view towards the complexities of existing configurations of electoral and policy- making institutions.

Sebastian THIEME

Enseignement électif

English

Familiarity with political institutions, processes, and terminology, and a basic understanding of statistics and causal inference (as covered, e.g., by the course Policy Analysis and Policy Assessment, beginner level), and an interest to engage with the topics of the course.

Spring 2025-2026

2 reaction memos (40% combined) providing a summary and critical engagement with the main arguments presented in the assigned readings for a given session. Student engagement in class (10%), including participation in class discussions and performance on potential surprise in-class quizzes. A final paper (50%, between 4000-6000 words) in which students will either provide a) a partial research paper on the topic of money and private influence in politics,  including description of a research question, motivation, existing research, as well as the data and research design to be employed; or b) a case study that describes and analyzes stakeholders (including special interests) and their political activities and strategies for a chosen legislative or regulatory proposal (or policy area) from the perspective of a lobbyist, government adviser, think tank researcher, etc., with a view towards assessing the relative influence of a subset of special interests and providing recommendations for mitigating or enhancing this influence. Both types of papers will need to draw on and reference concepts and topics covered in class.

It is expected that all sessions will begin on time, and that students will participate actively in class discussions. The course follows a format of 2-hour classes with a 10-minute break included. Instances of plagiarism will be addressed according to Sciences Po's Academic Rules and Regulations, and anti-plagiarism software will be used to detect potential cases of plagiarism.