Beginning in the 2026–2027 academic year, the University will offer an undergraduate economics major specialization in politics and policy (EPP), along with a minor in law and political economy. Together, the new programs aim to meet growing student interest in interdisciplinary approaches that integrate economics, politics, and law.
Economics Major With a Specialization in Politics and Policy
The new specialization is a collaboration between the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics and the Harris School of Public Policy. It will require five foundational courses in economics and policy, a course on game theory, two empirical analysis courses, and five electives.
The specialization aims to help students analyze economic and policy issues through the lens of political constraints and value judgments that are often overlooked in standard economic models.
“We have a lot of majors, and it’s a way of helping students to differentiate themselves a little bit,” said Victor Lima, codirector of the undergraduate and master’s programs in the Department of Economics and the College. “When we put out 1,000 econ[omics] majors… how are you unique and special? That’s how we’ve come up with business econ, data science, our traditional econ[omics] degree, and now EPP.”
The major was originally conceptualized as “the Chicago flavor of a PPE [philosophy, politics, and economics] degree,” Lima said. Student interest in such a program prompted discussion with Dean of the College Melina Hale, who engaged Chair of the Department of Economics Azeem Shaikh and Dean of the Harris School of Public Policy Ethan Bueno de Mesquita to develop the curriculum.
“Economics is the backbone of everything—it’s the approach that tells us how to look at problems anywhere that people are involved,” Lima said. He describes the Department of Economics as purely “positive,” meaning based on quantitative scientific observation. The Harris School will contribute the “normative,” or more qualitative, perspective required for policy decision-making.
Lima envisions two main groups of prospective students: economics majors who are interested in political processes and policy and political science students seeking to complement their major. Students majoring in political science, economics, or public policy might be natural candidates.
“Students who have a general interest in the field [of politics] but have a rough time with heavily inductive courses and who are looking for a more of a deductive setting—I think those kids are going to have an outlet that they currently don’t have,” Lima said.
While the economics courses will initially draw from the existing catalog, Harris has chosen to develop the second quarter of the politics and policy requirement from scratch. “Our idea is to give [the specialization] its own life and set of electives that are of interest to the students in the track, and I anticipate that, within the next two to three years, the elective catalog is going to change dramatically,” Lima said.
“What’s in there now is the closest we could get to a meaningful economics, politics, and policy degree with existing resources and minimal creation of classes,” Lima said.
Lima predicts that EPP will also spark informal dialogue across disciplines. “You sit with your EPP friend and your political science friend in the dining room, and they’re [going to] have a lot to argue about,” said Lima. “I think it’s going to be very intellectually stimulating.”
The department plans to host informational events in the fall.
Law and Political Economy Minor
Housed within the Law, Letters, and Society (LLSO) program, the minor will investigate the relationship between power and wealth.
“It’s by giving students a chance to explore this relationship [between power and wealth] that we’re hoping to equip them to analyze and understand life in capitalist societies,” said Sarah Johnson, director of undergraduate studies in LLSO.
The minor emphasizes a humanistic social sciences approach. Rather than apply economic theory to politics or political theory to economics, it seeks to revive what Johnson said is “a much older tradition” of political economy that existed in LLSO’s predecessor, Politics, Economics, Rhetoric and Law. By combining legal, economic, and social analysis, it responds to increasing student interest in interdisciplinary political economy across the social sciences.
As a minor rather than a major, the courses will have more flexible enrollment and broader accessibility.
The minor requires an introductory LLSO course, a two-quarter theories of capitalism sequence, and three electives. Elective options include courses in history, public policy, economics, philosophy, sociology, and LLSO.
“We’re excited to highlight that these courses are out there by bringing them together in the catalog” Johnson said. “It’s very clear that there’s already a great interest amongst the faculty in this area.” Johnson anticipates that the minor could draw interest from students across disciplines.
“For students from STEM to the humanities to elsewhere in the social sciences, this would be a way to study the social sciences with a very specific kind of thematic focus,” Johnson said.
LLSO plans to integrate feedback as students work through the new minor. “Are the courses allowing [students] to explore the questions they hope to [pursue]? Are they discovering things that they didn’t even know they wanted to learn?” Johnson said. “Is the minor offering them a really fulfilling and meaningful kind of educational experience?”
More information will be available at academic fairs in the fall and on LLSO’s website.
