The Political Economy of Redistribution under Democracy

We ask what redistributions of income and assets are feasible in a democracy, given the initial assets and their distribution. The question is motivated by the possibility that if redistribution is insufficient for the poor or excessive for the rich, they may turn against democracy. In turn, if no redistribution simultaneously satisfies the poor and the wealthy, democracy cannot be sustained. Hence, the corollary question concerns the conditions under which democracy is sustainable. Since decisions to save are endogenous, we solve explicitly for the current growth rates given any time path of future tax rates. We find that the optimal path of redistribution chosen by the median voter under the constraint of rebellion by the poor or the wealthy consists of redistributing as much as possible as soon as possible. However, this path is time inconsistent unless voters punish governments that deviate from their promises. Democracies survive in wealthy societies, with a lower average capital stock when they are more equal.Sustainable Democracy, Optimal Taxes

Peaceful transitions of power have been rare in modern states, but once the habit has been acquired it sticks

What incentives are there for non-democratic governments to agree to risk losing power in elections? Based on an analysis of over 3,000 elections which have taken place across the world since 1788, Adam Przeworski writes that the practice of peacefully changing governments via the ballot box has been a relatively rare occurrence in modern history. Nevertheless, he notes that while it is difficult to establish the first peaceful transition of power in a state, once the principle has been implemented it often becomes entrenched over time

Consensus, Conflict, and Compromise in Western Thought on Representative Government

AbstractRepresentative government in the West was born under an ideology that postulated a basic harmony of interests in society. The political decision process was thus expected to be largely consensual. This ideology obfuscated important conflicts of values and interests, and it became untenable with the rise of mass, class-based and religious parties. Beginning with Kelsen (1923) and culminating with Schumpeter (1942), theorists of representative government conceptualized it as a system for processing conflicts. In one view, representation is assured by compromises among parties, in another by partisan alternation in office

O umijeću pisanja projektnih prijedloga

Prijevod s engleskog: Silva Mežnarić (Studeni 1994.

Ökonomische und politische Transformationen in Osteuropa: Der aktuelle Stand

The article examines the dilemma of the necessity to consolidate democratic structures by creating incentives for political forces to channel their interests into the democratic institutions, but the policy choices are tightly constrained by the economic crisis. The foreseeable future, however, does not offer the perspective of material improvements in Eastern Europe, despite all optimistic prognoses. Nevertheless, the democratic institutions already seem consolidated to an extent to which their existence is at least not threatened in short-term perspective

Methodologischer Individualismus als Herausforderung der marxistischen Theorie

Die Gesellschaftswissenschaften sehen sich heute einer Offensive ausgesetzt, wie es sie zum letzten Mal in den 1890er Jahren gegeben hat: einem wohlüberlegten Vorstoß, der darauf abzielt, jeder Gesellschaftsanalyse das Monopol der ökonomischen Methode aufzuzwingen. Die neoklassischen Ökonomen teilen alle Ereignisse in zwei Kategorien ein: in ökonomische und in scheinbar nichtökonomische Phänomene. Die Herausforderung des methodologischen Individualismus richtet sich nicht gegen den Marxismus im Besonderen: Sie wendet sich auch an alle Theoriesysteme, die unter die Begriffe politische Wissenschaft, Soziologie, Anthropologie oder Sozialpsychologie fallen. Marx' allgemeiner Ausgangspunkt, die »Produktionsverhältnisse«, sind der gleichen Herausforderung ausgesetzt wie Simmels »Soziales apriori«, Durkheims »organische Solidarität« oder Parsons »Wertorientierungen«. Die Herausforderung besteht in den mikrotheoretischen Fundierungen für die Erklärung gesellschaftlicher Erscheinungen, genauer, in der Zurückführung jeder Gesellschaftstheorie auf zielgerichtete, rationale Handlungen von Individuen

Wird der »Osten« zum »Süden«? Der »Herbst des Volkes« und die Zukunft Osteuropas

In retrospect, it is easier to acknowledge the »necessary« collapse of Eastem European socialism than explaining it in terms of what brought it about. The Theory of Totalitarianism had blurred the view on the social dynamics of real-socialist societies, in the course of which the binding-force of state-sustaining ideology had been increasingly eroded over the past decades. In the end, this was also among those in power - hence the bloodless course ofthe uprisings. What will the future hold: flourishing capitalism, as in the case of Spain, or a South-American-type poor capitalism

"Warum hungern Kinder, obwohl wir alle ernähren könnten?": Irrationalität des Kapitalismus - Unmöglichkeit des Sozialismus

Das Scheitern des sozialistischen Projektes in den osteuropäischen Länder wird von vielen Beobachtern zum Anlaß genommen, die von der sozialistisch- marxistischen Theorie inspirierte Kritik an der Irrationalität des Kapitalismus als verfehlt zurückweisen. Indem gezeigt wird, daß ein solcher Schluß unzulässig ist, wird zugleich das Problem der politischen Unmöglichkeit einer sozialistischen Organisationsweise der Ökonomie aufgeworfen. Die These lautet, daß der Kapitalismus - als Real- wie als Idealtypus - einen höheren Grad an Reformierbarkeit aufweist als die beiden entsprechenden Typen vom Sozialismus

O umijeću pisanja projektnih prijedloga

Prijevod s engleskog: Silva Mežnarić (Studeni 1994.