Synopses & Reviews
The central problem of modern government and political action is how to choose and implement effective economic policies. For this reason, the economic considerations of public policy have assumed a more prominent place in contemporary political thought. Despite efforts among political scientists, economists, and sociologists to fathom the complexities of this added dimension, none of these solid sciences offers a satisfying approach to the problem. This volume attempts to display the historical novelty and intellectual importance of this dilemma, to uncover its origins, and to procure a remedy through a clearer and steadier focus. The book's contributors range from historians of ideas to economic theorists, who bring the approach of their own intellectual discipline to bear upon the issue.
Review
"For anyone interested in how the role of the state has changed over time, in the interdependencies between economic structure and what can and can't be achieved through government...this is fascinating reading." Richard Nelson, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management"This varied collection of essays on history, philosophy and economics deals at an extremely high level of subtlety and scholarship with both...the political limit on economics and the economic limit on politics." Ian Gilmour, London Review of Books
Synopsis
The most important theoretical and practical problem of contemporary political understanding is the problem of how to understand the economic dimension. It is a central cognitive responsibility of contemporary political science, economics, and sociology to show us exactly how it can be understood. But none of these social sciences at present offers a compelling general approach to such understanding. The purpose of this volume is to bring out the historical novelty and intellectual importance of this predicament, to show how it has arisen, and to suggest, by bringing it into clearer and steadier focus, how we might begin to remedy it.
The book's contributors range from historians of ideas to economic theorists. All of them bring to bear upon the issue the particular approaches of their own intellectual disciplines. Anyone seriously concerned with understanding modern politics, either academically or in practice, can learn extensively from careful reading and close consideration of their arguments.
Synopsis
The central problem of modern government and political action is how to choose and implement effective economic policies. For this reason, the economic considerations of public policy have assumed a more prominent place in contemporary political thought. Despite efforts among political scientists, economists, and sociologists, none of these sciences offers a satisfying approach to the problem. This volume attempts to display the historical novelty and intellectual importance of this dilemma, to uncover its origins, and to procure a remedy through a clearer and steadier focus.
Synopsis
Understanding economic dimensions is the most important theoretical and practical problem of contemporary politics. Based upon their respective disciplines, a range of contributors attempt to clarify economic limitations within a political context.
Table of Contents
Preface; Introduction; 1. The economic limits to modern politics John Dunn; 2. The wealth of one nation and the dynamics of international competition Istvan Hont; 3. The political limits to pre-modern politics J. G. A. Pocock; 4. The economic constraints on political programs Frank H. Hahn; 5. International liberalism reconsidered Robert O. Keohane; 6. Capitalism, socialism, and democracy: compatibilities and contradictions John Dunn.