The paradox of electoral economics focuses on how governments interact with conditions of economic growth. Additionally, this paradox includes the government’s interactions with market economies and how the economic interactions coincide with politics. The paradox of electoral economics states that all governments require positive economic performance. In other words, governments need up to par economies in order to sustain their own foundation, weak economy means weak infrastructure. The paradox also requires support and compliance and states that democratic governments are particularly vulnerable to economic performance. This is particularly seen through the connection of politics and economies, and how elections are swayed in favor of particular candidates given the state of the economy or those candidates intended economic policies. The paradox of electoral economics as stated, greatly affects the direction in which elections go. For example, a poor economy could cause an official to get elected out of office or it can result in their election defeat. In short, according to the paradox, economic performances are the best predictor of who wins an election.
Another idea established by the paradox is that governments often make economic decisions on the basis of non-economic considerations. In other words, politicians or government officials will implement economic policies that’s are not backed up by economic evidence. Other examples that would back up this idea is that is that is a governments primary consideration is to restructure the economy, but they do not want such consideration to be elected, governments can play against the rules of the economic games. Additionally, because governments have much influence over economi...
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...is of economic and social policy. It provides insight as to how the relationship of government and economics affects politics. As previously stated, this relationship is closely tied together; there is a string link between elections and economics. For example, economic policies proposed by politicians are strongly linked to their chance of reelection. The state of the market is also a key factor in the reelection process, thus economics dictates politics to certain extent. The paradox of electoral economics is an important part of society, it can dictate elections, affect economic policies, and largely contribute to the state of the market. “Growth requires more than just markets, whole existence cannot in any case be taken for granted. It requires institutions capable of addressing coordination problems that cannot be solved at arm’s length” (Eichengreen, pg.40).
Diamond discusses the importance of ideology and the ways in which they “pave road” for society to appropriately organize upon. Diamond specifically outlines the ways in which changing an ideology can alter society in Chapter 14, From Egalitarianism to Kleptocracy, as society evolves through the spread of an ideology. Both Diamond and Hunt agree about the importance of ideology in society, but their standpoints are critically different in their perspectives. Diamond focuses on other aspects just as well, such as immunity to germs or resource production, whereas Hunt specifically focuses on the ways in which changes in ideology impact the development of capitalism. Thus, both Hunt and Diamond have different thought’s on economic history, but converge in the ideal of signifying ideological
In American politics today, many practices exist that greatly harm the American public. One of these dangerous practices, known as gerrymandering, occurs in nearly every state. While some claim that the practice helps America, in reality gerrymandering harms American democracy and safety. Gerrymandering greatly affects society, and must become illegal to insure fair representation, the democratic processes in America continues, and America continues to thrive.
Higgs, Robert. "POLITICS & PROSPERITY." POLITICS PROSPERITY. N.p., 01 Sept. 2010. Web. 12 May 2014.
Mainstream economics cannot explain the unusual linkage between sugar producers and subsidy levels. While traditional, neoclassical economists cultivate elegant models that explain economic phenomena, they fail to characterize correctly the relationship between voters, their elected representatives, and the political institutions which shape the policies.
Despite its size, only 190 pages, the authors address the basic concepts of economics while also applying those politically and for personal finance decision making. Those basic concepts include scarcity, gains from trade, marginal decision-making, profit management, income growth, and Adam Smith’s invisible hand theories are all discussed within the first part of the book; allowing readers to understanding the concepts, Gwartney applies the same concepts to the creation of wealth and the importance of competition, private property, open trade, monetary stability, and lower taxes. This book educates its audience by evaluating our economy and government mechanisms without the overpowering display of charts, formulas, and graphs; which you would typically see in a textbook allow...
In contemporary times, the rise of capitalism as a dominant economic trend and its ravenous demand to accumulate sources from new markets, has led to the idea of merging political and economic power into one, which is democratic capitalism or otherwise illustrated as “a system where markets allocate income according to efficiency while governments redistribute income according to political demand."(Iversen, 2006). The advancements mentioned earlier, have given ground for questions concerning the possible compatibility of the political ideology which is democracy and the economic ideology capitalism and how would they affect one another. This mergence could be examined in recent times, whereas in the past around the start of the nineteenth century it was considered as inappropriate and unlikely to happen. This paper aims to demonstrate to what degree are democracy and capitalism compatible, by examining the various areas of conflict of the two ideologies, how has capitalism affected the democratic system in the United States and does actually global capitalism have an impact on the developing countries democracies.
Lindblom poses that the market entraps government because it fears the fall out of poor market function and the unemployment that it would create. The officials understand that the economy, at a basic level, is something that everyone can understand and that when it is doing poorly, they are in danger of losing their “privileged position”. According to Lindblom,
We look in particular to the case of the United States. The US is the world’s leading power and hegemon, who also has the world’s highest GDP and GDP per capita. However, in recent years the gap between the rich and the poor has been growing at a fast pace. This prevalence of income inequality in a free market society like the US indicates that inequality is a direct result of a market or government failure. In a free market it is believed that individuals possess an equal opportunity to be successfully, but because of misallocation of resources in a market economy this is not possible.
A strong example often used against compulsory voting is the lifeboat theory. The theory states that there are 11 people on a lifeboat with no navigator, map, or compass, and their supplies will only last long enough for one attempt at a journey to safety. Every person in the boat develops a guess as to the direction to land and safety, but no one is entirely sure if any of their theories will work. The situation is so dire that the occupants of the lifeboat decide that everyone should be able to vote on the suggested paths. However, only one person decides to cast a vote because they are the only one that feels certain of one specific theory. The rest of the occupants are unsure, knowing that just because they can vote does not mean that they
According to one of rational choice theory’s prominent and more thoughtful contemporary exponents, Peter C. Ordeshook, “four books mark the beginning of modern political theory: Anthony Downs’s An Economic Theory of Democracy (1957), Duncan Black’s Theory of Committees and Elections (1958), William H. Riker’s A Theory of Political Coalitions (1962), and James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock’s The Calculus of Consent (1962). These volumes, along with Kenneth Arrow’s Social Choice and Individual Values (1951), began such a wealth of research that political scientists today have difficulty digesting and synthesizing all but small parts of it. Consequently, the full value of this research often goes unrealized…” (Ordeshook 1986, ix)
The theory of economics does not furnish a body of settled conclusions immediately applicable to policy. It is a method rather than a doctrine, an apparatus of the mind, a technique for thinking, which helps the possessor to draw correct conclusions. The ideas of economists and politicians, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist." (John Maynard Keynes, the General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money p 383)
Therefore a free market is not desirable as maximizing their utility is priority. So government is expected to correct the market failure by choosing to char...
The first point that Rodrik makes is that markets are limited by the scope of governance or regulation. He argues that markets and governments are most effective when they are operating in accordance with one another. This theory seems to stem from a theory earlier developed by the famous economist Adam Smith, which was that “the division of labor is limited by the extent of the market.” Rodrik expands on this theory by saying that not only is labor limited by the market, but that markets are limited by government.
The neoclassical theory supports this as it was previously explained and suggested that the underdevelopment of some countries is due to the government’s poor state of intervention, encouraging corruption and inefficiency.
What Is Politics On hearing the word politics, what usually springs to mind are images of government, politicians and their policies or more negatively the idea of corruption and dirty tricks. The actual definition seems to have been obscured and almost lost by such representations and clichés that tend not to pinpoint the true essence, which defines this thing, called politics. In order to make an attempt at a definition of politics a systematic approach is required. To begin with, a brief historical overview will be considered, to understand the origins of politics. Following this, different core concepts, which are imperative to a definition of politics, will be discussed, in the hope to discover a true and fair interpretation of the word politics.