Free Online Course from Edx: State, Law and the Economy I

edX platform is offering a free online course on State, Law, and the Economy. This course teaches students essential economic concepts in an intuitive manner relevant to the study of political economy. Part One of the course is focused on developing essential economic concepts.

Topics include the contractual nature of the state, public versus private goods, property rights and economic externalities, the logic of collective action, social choice theory, agenda control, the art of manipulation, and the compatibility of two ideas of liberty with the democratic state.

The use of interdisciplinary materials, empirical inference, game-theoretic simulation, and cross-referencing with political philosophies and well-known historical cases, provide students an opportunity to connect different perspectives and deepen their understanding of the democratic state in a free society using economic concepts.

Duration:

The course lasts 5 weeks, 2 - 3 hours per week.

Syllabus:

• Week1: Some Methodological Issues and Collective Choice

Lectures 1 and 2 consider some specific concerns in applying economic analysis to the study of collective action, namely, (1) the rationality assumption, (2) the use of simplifying models, and (3) the problem of the fallacy of composition in studying collective action.

• Week2: Pure Public Goods and Coase Theorem

Lecture 3 and 4 utilizes game theory to explain how the structure of payoffs characterizes political choices, including the provision of public goods.

• Week3: Violence and the Origins of the State and Wisdom of Philosophers

Lecture 5 and 6 consider how the emergence of state institutions with human civilization has reduced violence and life loss.

• Week4: Two Concepts of Liberty, Theory of Social Choice and the Theory of Democracy

Lectures 7 and 8 introduce two concepts of liberty: negative and positive liberty. The two interpretations of liberty are then related to liberal versus populist democracy through the application of social choice theory.

• Week5: The Art of Political Manipulation

Lecture 9 studies how heresthetics is used to achieving a desired political outcome. The example of Abraham Lincoln in ending slavery is used as an illustration.

Learning Outcome:

Students will learn the following:

• To understand how collective decisions are made with the use of economic concepts.
• How the emergence of states in facilitating collective decisions has reduced incidences of violence and improved human welfare.
• How economic concepts can be applied to tackle problems and conflicts, for example, through well-defined property rights, use of rule-based methods, voting rules, etc.
• The application of the theory of social choice to illuminate the liberal and populist interpretation of voting and the relationship with theories of liberty and democracy.
• Learn how actual politics can be viewed as the use of heresthetics or the art of manipulation to achieve political objectives.

Course Fees:

There are no fees for enrolling or studying the course, but there is a choice for the student to seek a verified certificate of completion of the course for £36, which is characterized by:

• Receive an instructor-signed certificate with the institution's logo to verify your achievement and increase your job prospects.
• Add the certificate to your CV or resume, or post it directly on LinkedIn.
• Give yourself an additional incentive to complete the course.
• EdX, a non-profit, relies on verified certificates to help fund free education for everyone globally.

About EdX:

EdX is an online learning destination and a massive open online course provider, it is founded by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2026. edX offers high-quality courses from the world’s best universities and institutions to learners everywhere. It is open to students from around the world, who are interested in different fields like computer science, languages, engineering, psychology, writing, electronics, biology, or marketing. With more than 130 global partners, edX counts the world’s leading universities, nonprofits, and institutions as their partners to provide the best online courses on the Web.

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