Public choice theory treats all policy as self-interested coalitional maneuvering

Evidence

Buchanan and Tullock (1962) identified the state as a central problem of neoclassical economic theory. Whereas traditional neoclassical analysis had little to say about the state, neoclassical welfare economics assumed the existence of a benevolent and efficient state capable of correcting market failures. Buchanan and Tullock then expanded on the Chicago School interest group and state agency models confined to regulatory politics (e.g., regulatory capture theories developed by MPS members Stigler and Posner) by developing a universal economic theory of politics. All policies, including those carried out in the name of the public, are explained by economic interests represented by conspiring coalitions of voters and by the capacity of politicians to shape such coalitions based on their interest in maintaining their positions of power. Inefficient consequences in the political marketplace were solely blamed on the fallacies of political decision making: “We can summarize public choice as a theory of governmental failure” (Buchanan 1979, 178). — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1583

Categorization

• DEFINE: Precisely defines public choice theory: a universal economic theory of government as the source of policy failure.
• XREF: Links to Buchanan and Tullock’s The Calculus of Consent and the public choice literature; also echoes the regulatory capture work of Stigler already appearing in the Mont Pèlerin story. — connects to: Public choice theory frames democracy’s vote-seeking as inherently inflationary and chaotic — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 418; Public choice theory explains election-driven booms and slumps as vote maximization — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 415; Public choice theory depicted democratic politics as systematically harming the public interest. — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 481 (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• Public choice theory mirrors left critique of media as resistance theory #responds-to (0.75) — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 586
• Successful regimes suppress factional self-interest through inclusive aspiration and ethics #contradicts (0.75) — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 109
• Individualism becomes a defense of the status quo by delegitimizing group-based demands #corroborates (0.72)
• Rational choice theory rests on coherence and invariance assumptions #complicates (0.70) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2407