Modern Political Economy: Traditional Approaches and New Directions

This paper examines the revival of political economy in various forms in the last few decades. The first part is dedicated to the evolution of the definition of the economic science to lay the foundation of a better understanding of the current use of the term "political economy". The second part sets out a typology of the different theories and schools of political economy and relates them to certain characterization of the present day mainstream neoclassical economics. The last part of the paper focuses on one of the latest developments, the theory of public choice as a "new political economy": methodology, analytical apparatus, major themes and findings.