How does this course work?
-    This course includes a lecture and a section. While the lecture is the same for everyone, several sections on different topics are available. Choose the section that best matches your interests. You must register for a section before the start of the course, and this choice cannot be changed later.
-    Videos about the content of the sections are available on our Instagram account zuwi_va.

Title
-    Lecture title: Sustainable Economics
-    Section title: Interest Groups and Social Movements in Policy Process

Instructors
-    Lecture instructor: Prof. Jonas Bunte
-    Section instructor: Ihor Moshenets

Language
-    Lecture language: German
-    Section language: English

Topics
-    Topics of the lecture:
The lectures in this course explore possible explanations for the decisions made by three types of actors: businesses, citizens, and politicians. How do businesses make decisions? For example, why do some businesses behave more ethically and environmentally consciously than others? Or why do some businesses engage in more lobbying than others? How do citizens make decisions? For example, why do we sometimes act rationally but other times not? Or why are some social movements successful while others are not? How do politicians make decisions? For example, why do some politicians act based on their convictions while others behave opportunistically? Or why do some politicians appear more competent than others?

-    Topics of the section: 
This section concentrates on the exploration of multidimensional involvement of interest groups and social movements in the policy process. To which extent different types of collective actors from the society could change the state policies? And what external factors and consciously applied strategies could maximize their chances for success?  Course will consist of three main parts.  It will start from the broad introduction about the interrelation between the state and society and different types of systems of interest representation. On the second stage, the course will contrast the notion of interest groups and social movement as well as review the core ideas about the institutionalization of their structure, lobbying strategies, formation and activities of advocacy coalitions, communicational strategies of interest groups and the role of shifting ideas in producing policy change. The politics of mass protests and success of state actors in overcoming societal resistance would be the main focus of the third part of the course.  In theoretical terms, this section will introduce students to various theoretical ideas stemming from various disciplines, such as comparative politics, public policy theory, sociological studies of social movements, elements of social theory, interdisciplinary EU studies. Empirically, this course will provide multiple empirical examples from different European and non-European countries. 

-    Actors and areas of this section: 
Corporations & Society as well as Citizens & Society.

Upon completing the course, students will have developed a solid understanding of the core topics within the Department of Socioeconomics, particularly regarding the environmental and climate crisis, globalization, inequality, and democracy. To achieve this, the course pursues three objectives:

1. Critically examine the fundamental assumptions of economic models. Are businesses truly only driven by profit, or are there other motivations? Are humans genuinely rational with fixed, exogenous preferences? Students will gain insights into the implications if such assumptions do not hold.
2. Develop and compare possible explanations. How can we explain situations where actors make different decisions despite similar circumstances? Students will learn to derive potential explanations for these puzzles, becoming familiar with various disciplinary approaches (political science, sociology, geography, history, law, and economics).
3. Explore implications for the future. Students will analyze how these insights shape the various options available to them. What do these findings imply for our future? What can we do to address current challenges?

Lecture
Attendance at the lectures is strongly recommended but not mandatory. If a lecture is missed, no explanation or excuse is required.

Section
Attendance in the sections is mandatory. This requirement is considered fulfilled if no more than one of the seven section meetings is missed. Absences known in advance must be communicated to the instructor beforehand via email. A session missed due to health reasons (e.g., illness or accident) will not count as an absence if a doctor’s note is submitted promptly. In such cases, there are no negative effects on attendance or participation. However, if more than four section meetings are missed due to health reasons (with a valid doctor’s note), successful completion of the course is no longer possible. In such cases, the student will be de-registered from the course without a grade and may re-enroll in a future semester. Please note that de-registration does not occur automatically if a student does not attend. Students who wish to withdraw must contact the instructor directly before completing any graded coursework. If graded assignments (e.g., Assignment 1 or 2) are missed, there is no entitlement to compensation or make-up work, even in cases of illness. Further details regarding the attendance policy will be explained in the first section meeting.

Lecture
The pedagogical approach of the lecture is designed to actively engage students. The lectures are therefore dynamic and include a mix of presentations, interactive exercises, and relevant case studies. Lectures are conducted in German.

Section

 First, intellectual stimulation is achieved by presenting theoretical material as a dialogue between competing perspectives or as a collective search for answers to open-ended questions. This method encourages critical engagement and analytical thinking. Second, creativity in applying learned material is emphasized. Group presentations and critical movie review essays, used as final assessments, test students’ ability to employ theoretical concepts as interpretive frameworks for understanding real-world developments. Third, classroom interactivity is prioritized to ensure students’ active participation and expression of their viewpoints. Typical exercises involve small-group work (2–4 students) matching theoretical concepts discussed in class with relevant practical examples, followed by collective reflection. Additional activities include the analysis of multimedia materials and the collaborative exploration of specific dimensions of interest group advocacy strategies.

Additional Resources
-    Instagram Account: zuwi_va
-    Youtube Account: zuwi_va
-    ZuWi_VA Kurs-Website 

Assessment

• Lecture: A total of 25 points + 4 bonus points
  o    25 points: Final exam 
  o    4 bonus points: Details will be explained during the lecture
• Section: A total of 75 points 
  o    25 points: Participation 
  o    50 points from two of the following three options, as determined by the section instructor:
      25 points: Creative project
      25 points: Written assignment
      25 points: Exam with open-ended questions

Final Grade
Students can earn a maximum of 100 points in the course, with a minimum of 60 points required to pass. The grading scale is as follows: scores between 60 and 69.9 result in a grade of "4," scores between 70 and 79.9 correspond to a grade of "3," scores between 80 and 89.9 earn a grade of "2," and scores between 90 and above receive a grade of "1."

Details of the Final Exam for the Lecture

• Date: 28. September 2026
  o    The exam takes place during the Main Examination Week. The exam date is fixed and cannot be rescheduled.
  o    The exam will be conducted online on LEARN.  
  o    The duration of the exam is 60 minutes.
• Registration
  o    No separate registration is required. Students are automatically registered for the final exam upon enrolling in the course.  
• Rules
  o    If participation in this session is not possible due to verifiable and serious reasons (e.g., illness, accident, death in the family), a make-up attempt during the next main examination week is allowed. Please send a (medical) certificate to your section instructor so they can register you for the next examination week.
  o    Requests for expedited grading or early entry of the final course grade cannot be accommodated. Assessment follows the legally binding timelines of WU (Universitätsgesetz § 74 Abs. 4; Prüfungsordnung § 10 Abs. 5), which require that grades be issued within four weeks after completion of the final assessment. Since this course is offered three times per semester, students with time-sensitive application deadlines are advised to select the course session that best aligns with their schedule.
• Content
  o    The final exam will cover only the topics from the lecture, not the sections.

Course Requirements
Students must register for the course via LPIS. 
The topics of the available sections varies. For this reason, students are advised to carefully review the information about each section in the course catalogue before making their choice. Select the section that best aligns with your interests, as switching between sections during the semester is not permitted. 
It is expected that students enroll in “ZuWi Vertiefung & Anwendung” immediately after completing the STEOP course “Volkswirtschaftslehre und Zukunftsfähiges Wirtschaften” rather than delaying for several semesters.

Waitlist
Enrollment during the registration period is on a “first come, first served” basis, with 20 spots initially available per section. Any additional registrations will be placed on a waitlist.
After the registration period ends, the capacity of each section will be increased to 30 spots. The 10 additional spots will be allocated to waitlisted students who do not yet have valid enrollment for this course, with swap requests not considered. The allocation of these spots is determined based on urgency and academic progress and is managed by the Vice Rectorate for Teaching, without influence from the course instructors.
Students who are absent during the first session of their section will lose their spot. These unclaimed spots will be offered to waitlisted students who attend the first session of the section. This allocation is handled by the section instructors and follows the order of the waitlist.

Please log in with your WU account to use all functionalities of read!t. For off-campus access to our licensed electronic resources, remember to activate your VPN connection connection. In case you encounter any technical problems or have questions regarding read!t, please feel free to contact the library at readinglists@wu.ac.at.