The Reason of Rules: Constitutional Political Economy - Hardcover

Brennan, Geoffrey; Buchanan, James M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521256550 ISBN 13: 9780521256551

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1986

Synopsis

Societies function on the basis of rules. These rules, rather like the rules of the road, coordinate the activities of individuals who have a variety of goals and purposes. Whether the rules work well or ill, and how they can be made to work better, is a matter of major concern. Appropriately interpreted, the working of social rules is also the central subject matter of modern political economy. This book is about rules - what they are, how they work, and how they can be properly analysed. The authors' objective is to understand the workings of alternative political institutions so that choices among such institutions (rules) can be more fully informed. Thus, broadly defined, the methodology of constitutional political economy is the subject matter of The Reason of Rules. The authors have examined how rules for political order work, how such rules might be chosen, and how normative criteria for such choices might be established.

About this title

Book Description:

Societies function on the basis of rules. These rules coordinate the activities of individuals who have a variety of goals and purposes. Whether the rules work well or ill, and how they can be made to work better, is a matter of major concern. Appropriately interpreted, the working of social rules is also the central subject matter of modern political economy.

About the Author:

Recipient of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Economics, James Buchanan has won international recognition for his pioneering role in the development of public-choice theory.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1986
• ISBN 10: 0521256550
• ISBN 13: 9780521256551
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 176