Understanding Democracy
Economic and Political Perspectives

This is a collection of essays by well-known economists and political scientists from both North America and Europe on the nature of democracy.

Albert Breton (Edited by), Gianluigi Galeotti (Edited by), Pierre Salmon (Edited by), Ronald Wintrobe (Edited by)

9780521088244, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 30 October 2008

288 pages, 14 b/w illus. 9 tables
22.6 x 15.1 x 1.6 cm, 0.43 kg

"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

Democracy has moved to the centre of systemic reflections on political economy, gaining a position which used to be occupied by the debate about socialism and capitalism. Certitudes about democracy have been replaced by an awareness of the elusiveness and fluidity of democratic institutions and of the multiplicity of dimensions involved. This is a book which reflects this intellectual situation. It consists of a collection of essays by well-known economists and political scientists from both North America and Europe on the nature of democracy, on the conditions for democracy to be stable, and on the relationship between democracy and important economic issues such as the functioning of the market economy, economic growth, income distribution and social policies.

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.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP]