Neoliberals support democracy only instrumentally, insofar as it serves the market system.

Evidence

Neoliberals tend to perceive democracy as desirable only insofar as democratic institutions encourage the development of the economic system they advocate … We elaborate on this tension in the next section. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2184

Categorization

• DEFINE: Captures the instrumentalist stance that distinguishes neoliberal views on democracy.
• QUESTION: Worth tracing how this tension plays out in later policy, e.g. workarounds around democratic constraint.
• XREF: connects to: Neoliberal deregulation erodes democracy as politics abdicates to market pressure — Jürgen Habermas, A New Structural Transformation of the…, 81; Neoliberal market discipline was adopted to pacify unruly democratic publics — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 122; Neoliberal doctrine pairs contradictory claims about markets guaranteeing democracy and freedom — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 189 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Neoliberal deregulation erodes democracy as politics abdicates to market pressure #corroborates (0.85) — Jürgen Habermas, A New Structural Transformation of the…, 81
• Neoliberal market discipline was adopted to pacify unruly democratic publics #corroborates (0.85) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 122
• Ordoliberals wanted to reduce democratic participation to protect the market #exemplifies (0.85) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 525
• The neoliberal state governs for the market, not because of it. #corroborates (0.80) — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 111
• Neoliberal rationality reduces the very desire for democracy #expands (0.80) — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 398
• Neoliberal economic rationality is extinguishing the domains through which democracy materializes. #corroborates (0.80)
• Neoliberalism reframed democracy and unions as enemies of market truth. #corroborates (0.80) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 123
• Neoliberalism seeks a strong state that thwarts democracy, not a weak one #corroborates (0.80) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 155
• Neoliberalism reversed the state’s protective role toward shielding markets #corroborates (0.80) — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 745
• Neoliberal doctrine pairs contradictory claims about markets guaranteeing democracy and freedom #expands (0.75) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 189
• Neoliberalism redefines citizenship as mere customerhood to justify consolidating power within the state. #expands (0.75) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 159
• Neoliberalism treats citizenship as customerhood and rejects the night-watchman state #expands (0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2129