SES (Economics & Social Sciences) Terminale Study Sheet 2026

SES Terminale — Full Programme Overview

The French Terminale SES (Sciences Économiques et Sociales) speciality covers economics, sociology & political science, and cross-cutting perspectives. The Bac exam takes the form of a dissertation or a three-part structured paper. This sheet summarises all nine chapters of the official 2025-2026 curriculum.

Part 1 — Economics

Chapter 1: Sources and Challenges of Economic Growth

GDP measures total value added produced within a country over a year. Its limits include the exclusion of unpaid work, environmental degradation, and inequalities. Alternative indicators include the HDI (Amartya Sen).

Growth depends on labour, capital, and technical progress. The Solow model (1956) identifies the Solow residual — Total Factor Productivity (TFP) — as the unexplained driver of long-run growth. Endogenous growth theories (Romer, Lucas, Barro) show that R&D, human capital, and public infrastructure generate positive externalities.

Schumpeter argues that innovation drives growth through creative destruction: new industries replace obsolete ones, generating both progress and instability.

Institutions (property rights, rule of law) are essential. Douglass North demonstrated that secure property rights incentivise investment and innovation.

The debate on sustainability opposes weak sustainability (Solow — natural capital can be substituted by man-made capital) and strong sustainability (Daly — critical natural capital is irreplaceable).

Chapter 2: International Trade and Globalised Production

Ricardo's theory of comparative advantage (1817) shows that free trade benefits all countries, even if one is less productive across the board. The HOS model explains specialisation through factor endowments. Krugman (Nobel 2008) explains intra-industry trade through product differentiation and economies of scale.

Multinational firms fragment production into global value chains (design, components, assembly across countries). Price competitiveness depends on costs; non-price competitiveness depends on quality, innovation, and brand.

Trade generates gains (lower prices, variety) but also inequalities (Stolper-Samuelson) and job losses in exposed sectors.

Chapter 3: Fighting Unemployment

Unemployment is defined by the ILO (jobless, available, actively seeking). The key distinction is between cyclical unemployment (Keynes — insufficient demand) and structural unemployment (skills mismatch, efficiency wages, matching frictions).

Policies include demand stimulus, vocational training, labour market flexibility, payroll tax cuts, and unemployment insurance. The Danish flexicurity model combines all three.

Chapter 4: Macroeconomic Stabilisation Policies

Fiscal policy uses government spending and taxation. The Keynesian multiplier amplifies initial spending. However, public debt and crowding-out effects impose constraints. The Ricardian equivalence (Barro) suggests households offset fiscal stimulus by saving more.

Monetary policy is managed by the ECB via interest rates. When rates hit zero, quantitative easing injects liquidity. Friedman (monetarism) argues monetary policy should only target price stability.

The Stability and Growth Pact constrains eurozone fiscal policy (3% deficit, 60% debt). Effective policy mix requires coordination between fiscal and monetary authorities.

Part 2 — Sociology & Political Science

Chapter 5: Social Stratification in France

Marx defines classes by ownership of the means of production. Weber adds status groups and political parties. Bourdieu maps the social space through economic, cultural, and social capital, shaped by the habitus.

Inequality factors include income, wealth, education, gender, and ethnic origin. These are cumulative and intersecting.

Chapter 6: School and Social Reproduction

Mass schooling expanded access but not eliminated inequality. Bourdieu & Passeron argue schools reproduce class hierarchies by rewarding dominant cultural capital. Boudon attributes educational inequality to rational family choices. Anderson's paradox: more diplomas do not guarantee upward mobility due to credential inflation.

Chapter 7: Social Mobility

Mobility tables (INSEE) measure inter- and intra-generational mobility. Observed mobility combines structural mobility (changes in the occupational structure) and social fluidity (equality of opportunity net of structural effects). Family, school, and the job market all shape mobility outcomes.

Chapter 8: Political Engagement

Engagement includes voting, activism, social movements, and digital mobilisation. Lazarsfeld links voting to social belonging. Olson's free-rider paradox explains why collective action is difficult. Tilly traces the evolution of repertoires of contention.

Part 3 — Cross-Cutting Perspectives

Chapter 9: Environmental Policies

Pollution is a negative externality; the environment is a common good threatened by the tragedy of the commons (Hardin). Ostrom (Nobel 2009) showed communities can self-govern commons.

Three policy tools exist: Pigouvian taxation (carbon tax), cap-and-trade (inspired by Coase — EU-ETS), and regulation (emission standards). The Paris Agreement (COP 21, 2015) targets 1.5–2°C warming. International cooperation faces the free-rider problem at global scale.

Key Authors Summary