Route 1 polity and economy shape each other → Marx: interdisciplinary study (economics, law, politics)

Route 2 Oxford Handbook definition — state’s economic policies + processes → Kautilya’s Arthashastra → Smith: modern political economy born

two strands → liberal ( → Hayek, Friedman): free markets, minimal state → Marxist (Frank dependency, Wallerstein world-systems): core–periphery exploitation → comparative payoff → regularities & causal mechanisms across systems → corporation–government links & autocracy-vs-democracy policy differences → global integration alters state decisions

economic determinism → Kenworthy: ignores historical, political, cultural contexts

Route 1 PE compares systems through the economy–polity interface → shows why policy and regime behaviour differ, as institutions alone cannot

Route 2 hold its comparative value but read with cultural and institutional context (Kenworthy), not economic reductionism