The Department of Political Economy focuses its attention on the challenges presented by contemporary economic realities at national, European and global levels, and fosters a continual feedback between the production of knowledge and teaching. At its core, the programme contemplates the centrality of the relationship between economic and legal questions within contemporary societies.

The members of the Department fulfill teaching roles primarily in the undergraduate programme in Economics, as many of them had a central role in its creation. They also participate in the Master's and PhD in Economics, the Master's programmes offered by the Department of Political Economy (the MScs in Labour Law, Human Resources Development Policies, Development Studies, Economics and Public Policy, Social and Solidarity Economics, and Monetary and Financial Economics), as well as in Master's programmes offered by other Schools at Iscte.

The Department includes twenty four members, fifteen with PhDs in Economics, three with PhDs in Law and another six who assist in the teaching of Law.

These members do research in the following areas:

• Political Economy, including traditional areas of Economics, with specializations in Economics of Development, Labour Economics, Economics of Innovation, Regional Economics, Public Economics, Urban Economics, the Economics of the Cultural Sector and Behavioural Economics; there is also a strong tradition in the History of Economic Thought and Economic Methodology;
• Development Studies, with a specific focus on governance and public policy, the financial sector, regional and urban planning, globalization and international economic relations, skill development, regional and urban development, rural development, ethics and social inclusion;
• Law, in the following areas: Commercial Law, Corporate Law, Labour Law, Consumer Rights Law, Publicity Law, Transportation Law, Banking Law, Information and Internet Law, Constitutional Law, Human Rights, Administrative Law, European Law, Regulation and Economic Law, Economic Analysis of Law and the Legal Framework for Scientific Activity. 

The department favours a strong link between theory and practice, i.e., that research and teaching should be based on a systematic reference to both economic reality and legal framework.

The department promotes scientific research and its dissemination both at the national and international levels. Most department members are also members of the research centre Dinâmia-CET - Centre for Socioeconomic and Territorial Studies. This research centre has been rated Excellent by the Foundation for Science and Technology, a government body. Dinâmia'CET prioritizes innovation in the production of knowledge and values the diversity of its interdisciplinary composition.