Understanding Democracy: Economic and Political Perspectives

ISBN-13: 9780521582360 / Angielski / Twarda / 1997 / 288 str.

Breton, Albert

Opis

In this collection of essays, attention is given to basic issues about democracy that, in spite of their high practical relevance, tend to be taken for granted and not seriously addressed. What should be expected or not expected from democracy? What are the conditions for democracy to be stable? What is the relationship between democracy and economic growth, income distribution, social policies, and the efficiency of public administration? Although broad and potentially contentious, these questions are treated both professionally and thoughtfully and on the whole with little ideological bias.

Recenzje

"The book makes interesting reading because each chapter offers a thought-provoking analysis of some specific feature of democratic government. ...this volume offers much insight into the analysis of democratice institutions. Each chapter is worthwhile by itself, and the volume as a whole demonstrates that public choice analysis could profitably be extended beyond its normal boundaries to an analysis of the interactions among political and economic institutions along with the democratic decision-maknig process." Randall G. Holcombe, Public Choice

Spis treści

Introduction Albert Breton, Ginaluigi Galeotti, Pierre Salmon and Ronald Wintrobe; Part I. Democracy, the Market, and the Law: 1. Democratic stability as a self-enforcing equilibrium Barry R. Weingast; 2. Democracy, competition, and the principle of Isonomia: an economic analysis of the political exchange as an incomplete contract Michel Grillo; 3. Constitutional democracy: an interpretation Dennis Mueller; 4. Necessary and sufficient conditions for a viable democracy Peter Bernholz; Part II. Democracy and Economic Growth: 5. Government spending and economic growth under democracy and dictatorship Jose Antonio Cheibub and Adam Pzeworski; 6. Rent seeking and redistribution under democracy vs dictatorship Ronald Wintrobe; 7. Democractic governments, economic growth and income distribution Pierre Salmon; Part III. Democratic Deficiencies and Possible Improvements: 8. Democracy and the public machinery: the case of the headless leviathan Gianluigi Galeotti; 9. Democracy and empowerment Albert Breton and Margot Breton; 10. Political participation, voting and economic policy: three problems of modern democracies Luigi Campiglio; Part IV. Democratic Expectations: 11. Components of the democratic ideal Ian Shapiro; 12. Democracy on the margin Russell Hardin.