Hayek preferred a liberal dictator over a democracy that impinges on markets

Evidence

Hayek expanded on these themes in a 1981 interview with the Chilean newspaper El Mercurio. Echoing Schmitt, he argued that, when a government is in a ‘situation of rupture’, it is ‘practically inevitable for someone to have absolute powers’. As the market is necessary to preserve freedom, when the market is threatened, society may temporarily be converted into an organisation, and government may rule by decree. He would prefer a ‘liberal dictator’, he told the newspaper, to a ‘democratic government lacking in liberalism’. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 363

Categorization

• XREF: Central to the reader’s market-ethics debate: the explicit preference for dictatorial over democratic governance is the strongest possible counterpoint to claims that market liberalism is inherently democratizing. — connects to: Hayek saw collectivist mass politics as the long-standing destroyer of free markets. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 69; Hayek’s extended order subordinates political authority to market discipline — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 120; Hayek’s American Road project was subordinate to a larger liberal movement — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 737 (+9 more)
• QUESTION: Worth chasing: how did this interview circulate in later Chilean constitutional debates, and to what extent did the 1980 Pinochet constitution embody Hayek’s ‘Model Constitution’ ideas?

Broader Connections

• Hayek publicly defended self-limiting dictatorships as possibly more liberal than unrestrained democracy #corroborates (0.95) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2151
• Hayek claimed a self-limiting dictatorship can out-liberalize an unbounded democracy #corroborates (0.92) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1638
• Hayek directly legitimized Pinochet’s dictatorship as more liberal than unrestricted democracy. #corroborates (0.90) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1592
• Hayek argued democracy and liberalism can diverge, with democracy potentially turning anti-liberal #expands (0.85) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2144
• Hayek ranked freedom above democracy and would temporarily sacrifice democratic procedure for it #expands (0.82) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2152