This book offers a pluralistic vision of the way economists have dealt with the question of power in society over the last two centuries. Economists’ ideas about power are examined from political, theoretical and policy-making points of view, with additional discussion of the active...

The standard approach to policy-making and advice in economics implicitly or explicitly ignores politics and political economy, and maintains that if possible, any market failure should be rapidly removed. This essay explains why this conclusion may be incorrect; because it ignores politics,...

We provide a general framework for the analysis of the dynamics of institutional change (e.g., democratization, extension of political rights, or repression of different groups), and how these dynamics interact with (anticipated and unanticipated) changes in the distribution of political power...

Einführung -- Einführung -- Allokationstheoretische Grundlagen -- Ziele staatlicher Wirtschaftspolitik -- Allokationstheorie und Wirtschaftspolitik -- Grundlagen der politischen Ökonomie -- Grundmodelle der direkten und der indirekten Demokratie -- Theorie wirtschaftspolitischer Reformen --...

Die Strategie Dieses Buches -- Methodische Grundlagen -- Wohlfahrtstheoretische Grundlagen -- Marktversagen und Gefangenen-Dilemma -- Kollektive Entscheidungen -- Markt und Wettbewerb -- Die Regulierung NatÜrlicher Monopole -- Externe Effekte, ClubgÜter und Das Allmende-Problem --...