The February EPERN session will spotlight John Meadowcroft and his new paper, "Altruism, self-interest, and constitutional reform: the case of the British abolition of slavery and the slave trade."

In June 1833 the British Parliament voted to abolish slavery throughout the British Empire. When the act came into effect on 1 August 1838, 800,000 enslaved black men, women and children, most working on sugar plantations in the West Indies, were freed. The emancipation of British slaves followed abolition of the slave trade throughout British territories in 1807. The British abolitions are widely cited as examples of the triumph of altruistic benevolence over pecuniary self-interest leading to welfare-enhancing reforms. Prima facie this challenges the basic tenets of public choice that individuals engage in collective action only to pursue their own self-interest. This paper aims to explain the British abolitions through the lens of public choice theory and entangled political economy by showing the importance of self- interested motives in these reforms, in terms of the cost-benefit calculus of the abolitionists, and the importance of changes to the constitutional rules that preceded reform.

John Meadowcroft, an Associate Professor in Public Policy at King’s College London, centers his research on the interplay between institutions, normative ideas, politics, and policy. Adopting the lens of public choice theory and constitutional political economy, he examines how individuals navigate collective institutions, from political parties to protest movements. He delves into how different institutions influence prevailing ideas and, conversely, how these ideas shape institutions. Since joining King’s in 2006, John has held several leadership roles within the Department of Political Economy and actively contributes to several editorial boards.