New Edited Volume: Realism, Ideology, and the Convulsions of Democracy

A new edited volume on entangled political economy was recently published online by Springer, with the print version scheduled for release on November 17. Edited by Mikayla Novak, Richard Wagner, and me, "Realism, Ideology, and the Convulsions of Democracy" explores the tendency of democracies to evolve away from liberalism.

With the generous support from the Institute for Human Studies, we invited contributions from a roster of distinguished classical liberal scholars. We asked them to explore the instability of democracies by taking a cue from James Burnham's "The Machiavellians: The Defenders of Freedom." The Machiavellians, including Vilfredo Pareto, Gaetano Mosca, and Gorges Sorel, were political realists who recognized that powerful elites emerge in every political system, regardless of its democratic or egalitarian veneer. In democracies, by appealing to deeply held emotions and values, the ruling class rallies the public around various causes or against perceived threats, even if the consequences of such support might be against the best objective interests of citizens. Following the Machiavellians' footsteps requires looking past the veneer of democratic ideology that often posits voting as a sufficient condition for maintaining the liberal social order.

With the advent of public choice, it became common to explain democratic dynamics by evoking voters' ignorance. In this line of thinking, the high costs and low benefits keep voters from becoming informed and lead to suboptimal outcomes. In contrast, building on Wagner’s entangled political economy, this collection of essays approaches the challenge to democracy as a product of the epistemic structure that makes it difficult to distinguish between testable and aspirational propositions.

As Wagner notes in his 2016 “Politics as a Peculiar Business: Insights from a Theory of Entangled Political Economy,” there is a disconnect between choice and consequences in some institutional contexts. To allow for this disconnect, Wagner adopted Vilfredo Pareto’s distinction between settings that offer immediate feedback (e.g., markets) and those where feedback might be delayed or absent (e.g., religion or politics). As Wagner argues, ideology and appeals to emotions are far more likely to play a role in the latter case, as there are no mechanisms or counterfactuals to verify political or religious promises. The choice to support a particular political movement or to acquiesce to the status quo becomes less about voters’ expectations and more about the emotions and a sense of belonging that political speech produces.

Chapters in this collection showcase diverse perspectives. While many embrace the approach of entangled political economy, some chapters challenge certain aspects of this novel approach, pointing to areas that warrant further exploration and refinement in future studies. Here is a snippet summary of each chapter with links to full versions on the publisher’s website:

Richard E. Wagner: Social Science, Administrative Science, And Entangled Political Economy

Following the introduction, the second chapter brings Richard Wagner's portrayal of entangled political economy (EPE) as a revival of classical political economy's core contributions. EPE emphasizes the social dynamics that once defined political economy before it evolved into economics in the late 19th century. Wagner argues that classical political economists, like Adam Smith, were more focused on social phenomena and invisible hand theorizing, where societal cohesion arises from individuals' desire for societal approval. As economics began emphasizing resource allocation and utility maximization, this social perspective was overshadowed, and ideology was invited to explain why political actors would pursue the public good. Eschewing this turn to ideology, EPE builds on 19th-century Italian public finance scholarship and takes a more realist approach to address social questions.

Giampaolo Garzarelli, Lyndal Keeton, Aldo A. Sitoe: Duality, Liberty, And Realism In Entangled Political Economy

In the third chapter, authors Giampaolo Garzarelli, Lyndal Keeton, and Aldo A. Sitoe question whether maximizing liberty (sentimental liberalism) is the same as minimizing coercion (muscular liberalism) through two perspectives: closed-ended and open-ended political economy models. The closed-ended model views society as multiplied individual interactions, while the open-ended model sees interactions as non-scalable with partial knowledge. They deduce that in a non-scalable model, some coercion is essential to avoid chaos, so liberty is a function of coercion. They conclude that liberalism's survival hinges on minimizing coercion, not maximizing liberty.

James Caton: Community, Pluralism, And Public Reason: An Entangled Analysis Of Early Modern England

In the fourth chapter, James Caton presents a framework for understanding the rise of a pluralist, liberal order. He describes the "social contract" as the evolving structures and processes that govern individual behaviors, shaped through continuous public discourse or negotiations. This discourse, marked by ongoing speech exchanges, means that the social contract isn't set at one moment but evolves over infinite moments.

Kevin Vallier: The Emotional Decay Of Liberalism: Trust, Polarization, And Affective Looping

Kevin Vallier discusses the repercussions of declining social trust in a liberal society, emphasizing that reduced trust can lead to increased tribalism. Ambiguity in observing compliance to moral rules can lead to biased interpretations, resulting in affective distrust transforming into cognitive distrust. This feeds into a cycle of further distrust and polarization.

Rosolino A. Candela: Toward A Constitutional Theory Of Property Rights To Escape The Transitional Gains Trap: A View From The Machiavellians

Rosolino Candela offers insights into how economic and political systems co-evolved, highlighting the significant role of property rights. This chapter traces elite competition's role in developing beneficial institutional frameworks, incentivizing innovation and economic prosperity.

Laurent Dobuzinskis: From Entangled Political Economy To Civil Association: A Difficult Journey

Laurent Dobuzinskis evaluates how sentimentality influences political decisions, especially in the works of specific theorists. He underscores the importance of norms and values in legitimizing political systems. Concerns about fairness and distribution in liberal political orders also come to the forefront.

David J. Hebert and Nicholas M. Arnold: Mr. President, Tear Down This Fence

David Hebert and Nicholas Arnold delve into the role of sentiment and symbolism in politics. They explore how sentimentality can sometimes overrule reason in constitutional debates, leading to political actors bending the rules for personal gain.

Vlad Tarko: Economic Efficiency And The Quest For A More Just World 

Vlad Tarko examines the moral underpinnings necessary for a liberal economic-political order. He proposes institutional reforms like polycentric public governance and auction-based political decision-making as solutions to navigate conflicts and disagreements.