Economics Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Democracy: Democracy is a system of government in which the people have the power to choose their leaders and make decisions about how they are governed. It is based on the principles of equality, freedom, and participation._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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James M. Buchanan on Democracy - Dictionary of Arguments
Boudreaux I 10 Democracy/Buchanan/Boudreaux/Holcombe: From its start, Buchanan’s entire career can be understood as a constructive scholarly reaction to the analytical errors of Keynesianism on the one hand, and excessively romantic beliefs about democracy on the other. >Aggregation, >Keynesianism, >Terminology/Buchanan, >About Buchanan. Democracy/Buchanan: Buchanan believed deeply that each individual is morally equal to every other individual. Because no person is superior, ethically speaking, to any other person, no person’s opinions or preferences should be given special advantage over those of other persons. As Buchanan repeatedly expressed this sentiment one way or another, “We cannot claim to play as God” (Buchanan, 1975a(1): 15). Voting/election/majorities/Buchanan: Buchanan’s extensive investigations of majority-rule democracy and of other methods of collective decision-making revealed to him the many ways that, in practice, such decision-making can, and very often does, lead to outcomes that are at odds with the desires of voters. Boudreaux I 11 Majority-rule democracy, if not governed by sound constitutional rules, will produce outcomes that, ironically, harm majorities and satisfy only small minorities. Buchanan sought to expose the flaws in majority-rule democracy not to discredit democracy but, instead, to persuade people to correct these flaws by crafting appropriate constitutional rules. >Constitution/Buchanan. 1. Buchanan, James M. (1975a). The Limits of Liberty: Between Anarchy and Leviathan. University of Chicago Press._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
EconBuchan I James M. Buchanan Politics as Public Choice Carmel, IN 2000 Boudreaux I Donald J. Boudreaux Randall G. Holcombe The Essential James Buchanan Vancouver: The Fraser Institute 2021 Boudreaux II Donald J. Boudreaux The Essential Hayek Vancouver: Fraser Institute 2014 |
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