Individualism and Political Disorder

'In these creative and imaginative essays, James M. Buchanan and Yong J. Yoon explore new analytical territory by explaining how democratic politics can generate economic disorder. While some of these themes are present throughout Buchanan's scholarly oeuvre, these essays break new analytical ground by examining the ability of democratic processes to promote destructive outcomes in the absence of appropriate constitutional restraints on democratic action. These articles and excerpts will repay careful study by all scholars interested in the relationship between democracy, liberty, and economic progress.'
- Richard E. Wagner, George Mason University, US

Inspired by F.A. Hayek's Individualism and Economic Order, this book, edited by Yong Yoon, stands in contrast to the themes of that work by emphasizing that collective action operates differently from the way the market works. The chapters comprise papers written by James M. Buchanan, both with and without Yoon's co-authorship, after the publication of his Collected Works.

In this book, the authors analyze political disorder that is caused by individualism and self-interest in democracy, focusing specifically on the American political commons. Buchanan and Yoon expertly examine a variety of topics within this theme: the public choice approach to political disorder, rigorous economic models, the dysfunction of American fiscal institutions, the psychological aspects of political rules, and Fukuyama's vetocracy as a case of anti-commons.

Readers will gain many new insights from Individualism and Political Disorder, and it will prove invaluable for academics and students in an array of areas, such as economics, politics, public policy and public administration, social psychology, and law and economics.