Social Sciences: Economics, Sociology and Law
What the exam expects
This domain tests how societies produce, distribute and regulate. Economics: scarcity and choice, supply and demand, elasticity, market structures, national accounting (GDP, growth), inflation, unemployment, monetary policy, development economics and the specificities of primary-commodity economies. Sociology: socialisation, norms and values, social stratification, institutions (family, school, religion), Durkheim, Weber, Bourdieu, and the sociology of development. Law: the hierarchy of norms, the distinction between public and private law, the sources of law (constitution, statute, regulation, custom, case law, doctrine), and the organisation of courts.
Traps that recur
- Confusing GDP (production within a territory) with GNP (production by nationals).
- Confusing inflation (sustained rise in the general price level) with a rise in one price.
- Treating correlation as causation in sociological data.
- Confusing public law (state-citizen relations) with private law (relations between persons).
- Forgetting that custom is a source of law only where the law refers to it.
Rule of thumb
In law, always rank the norm: constitution, then treaty, then statute, then regulation. A lower norm that contradicts a higher one is invalid. In economics, always ask who bears the cost of a policy.
Worked example
A minimum wage is set above equilibrium. The rule of thumb: quantity supplied of labour exceeds quantity demanded, producing surplus labour (unemployment among low-skilled workers) unless employers absorb the cost. Explain the mechanism, then state the empirical caveat that the size of the effect depends on elasticity.