Ideology
An Explanation for Public Policy Making
Chapter
Abstract
A possible explanation for the passage of the laws discussed in chapter 1 would be ideology. We will not develop an elaborate definition of ideology here; Downs’s definition, “a verbal image of the good society and of the chief means of constructing such a society” (1957, p. 96), is sufficient. For purposes of analysis we may identify two ideological positions that political agents (voters, politicians, bureaucrats, and contributors) may take: A promarket position argues for reducing the scope of government regulation of economic activity below current levels; an antimarket position favors more government intervention and generally opposes the use of markets.
Keywords
Minimum Wage Capitalist System Political Agent Class Interest Political Sector
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Notes
- 1.While economists have largely neglected Schumpeter’s theory of ideology, it has been adopted by a group of political scientists and sociologists commonly called neoconservatives For a discussion by members of this group of the role of intellectuals in weakening the capitalist system, see Bruce-Briggs (1979). His title, The New Class?,seems to be a contemporary equivalent of Schumpeter’s “intellectuals.”Google Scholar
Copyright information
© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 1982