On The Convergence of Economy And Polity: A Review Of Some Theoretical Studies

Abstract

The aim of this paper is not an attempt at an explicit model-building exercise but to present modest arguments of an explanatory and synthetic nature for the relevance of political factors in economic and development processes. In extension, the paper hopes to show that there exists interchangeable features which offer a certain degree of substitutability between the disciplines of politics and economics. In other words, one can speak of the existence of economic bases in politics and political bases in economics. A caveat is certainly needed for an effort of this type: that efforts to bridge disciplines certainly run the risk of encouraging dilettantism. Fully aware of the risk involved, the present paper is to be treated as exploratory in nature and at best it has to be seen as a first level approximation towards model-building.

The paper is basically divided into two parts. The first part will briefly deal with the changing nature of economic theory by stressing the importance of macro-economic theories which the writer takes as having closer usefulness to the present endeavour. And the second part of the paper will look at some of the attempts made so far to develop the so-called politico-economic models and to assess their applicabilities.