IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/afd/wpaper/2403.html

Buchanan and the social contract: Coordination failures and the atrophy of property rights

Author

Listed:
  • Stefano Dughera

    (University of Piemonte Orientale)

  • Alain Marciano

    (University of Torino)

Abstract

James Buchanan advocated that societies should be based on a social contract. He rejected anarchy, seeing it as a “Hobbesian jungle” that calls for government intervention to maintain social order. He also opposed to theories of spontaneous order. These views led to debates about the compatibility of Buchanan’s works with classical liberalism, and even with democracy. This paper contributes to this discussion by exploring the development of Buchanan's views on anarchy from a historical viewpoint. We argue that Buchanan's earlier works contain a theory of spontaneous cooperation, and that Buchanan held to this theory until the 1970s. Then, the deteriorating conditions of American society got him convinced that albeit anarchy is theoretically desirable, cooperation requires individuals to enter a social contract and delegate enforcement authority to political institutions. Overall, the paper reconciles Buchanan's practical views with his philosophical inclinations, portraying him as a practical contractarian but a philosophical anarchist.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefano Dughera & Alain Marciano, 2024. "Buchanan and the social contract: Coordination failures and the atrophy of property rights," Working Papers AFED 24-03, Association Francaise d'Economie du Droit (AFED).
    • Handle: RePEc:afd:wpaper:2403
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://afed.ovh/RePEc/afd/wpaper/AFED-WP-24-03.pdf
    File Function: First version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Karen I. Vaughn, 2014. "Buchanan as Subjectivist," Southern Economic Journal, Southern Economic Association, vol. 80(4), pages 918-925, April.
    2. Charles M. Tiebout, 1956. "A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(5), pages 416-416.
    3. Jean-Baptiste Fleury & Alain Marciano, 2018. "The Making of a Constitutionalist: James Buchanan on Education," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 50(3), pages 511-548, September.
    4. William F. Shughart & Diana W. Thomas, 2014. "What Did Economists Do? Euvoluntary, Voluntary, and Coercive Institutions for Collective Action," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 80(4), pages 926-937, April.
    5. F. H. Knight, 1924. "Some Fallacies in the Interpretation of Social Cost," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 38(4), pages 582-606.
    6. Richard Abel Musgrave, 1941. "The Planning Approach in Public Economy: A Reply," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 55(2), pages 319-324.
    7. Alain Marciano & Steven G. Medema, 2015. "Market Failure in Context: Introduction," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 47(5), pages 1-19, Supplemen.
    8. James M. Buchanan, 1992. "On Some Fundamental Issues in Political Economy: An Exchange of Correspondence," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Essays on the Methodology and Discourse of Economics, chapter 10, pages 201-230, Palgrave Macmillan.
    9. Tibor Scitovsky, 1954. "Two Concepts of External Economies," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 62(2), pages 143-143.
    10. Candela, Rosolino A., 2020. "The political economy of insecure property rights: insights from the Kingdom of Sicily," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(2), pages 233-249, April.
    11. Steven G. Medema, 2020. ""Exceptional and Unimportant"? Externalities, Competitive Equilibrium, and the Myth of a Pigovian Tradition," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 52(1), pages 135-170, February.
    12. Barzel,Yoram, 1997. "Economic Analysis of Property Rights," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521597135, February.
    13. William F. Shughart II & Diana W. Thomas, 2014. "What Did Economists Do? Euvoluntary, Voluntary, and Coercive Institutions for Collective Action," Southern Economic Journal, Southern Economic Association, vol. 80(4), pages 926-937, April.
    14. Benjamin Powell & Edward Stringham, 2009. "Public choice and the economic analysis of anarchy: a survey," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 503-538, September.
    15. Candela, Rosolino A. & Piano, Ennio E., 2020. "The Art and Science of Economic Explanation: Introduction to the Special Issue in Honor of Yoram Barzel," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(2), pages 119-126, April.
    16. Leeson, Peter T., 2011. "Government, clubs, and constitutions," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 301-308.
    17. Buchanan, James M & Bush, Winston C, 1974. "Political Constraints on Contractual Redistribution," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 64(2), pages 153-157, May.
    18. Richard Abel Musgrave, 1939. "The Voluntary Exchange Theory of Public Economy," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 53(2), pages 213-237.
    19. Karen I. Vaughn, 2014. "Buchanan as Subjectivist," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 80(4), pages 918-925, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. repec:jpe:journl:1651 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Mehrdad Vahabi, 2016. "A positive theory of the predatory state," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 168(3), pages 153-175, September.
    3. Marciano, Alain, 2011. "Buchanan on externalities: An exercise in applied subjectivism," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 280-289.
    4. Maxime Desmarais-Tremblay, 2014. "On the Definition of Public Goods. Assessing Richard A. Musgrave's contribution," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00951577, HAL.
    5. Ilia Murtazashvili & Ennio E. Piano, 2019. "Governance of shale gas development: Insights from the Bloomington school of institutional analysis," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 32(2), pages 159-179, June.
    6. Beatrice Cherrier & Jean-Baptiste Fleury, 2017. "Economists’ interest in collective decision after World War II: a history," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 172(1), pages 23-44, July.
    7. William F. Shughart II & Josh T. Smith, 2020. "The broken bridge of public finance: majority rule, earmarked taxes and social engineering," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 183(3), pages 315-338, June.
    8. Alain Marciano, 2023. "The Political Economy of Buchanan's Samaritan's Dilemma," Springer Books, in: Martin A. Leroch & Florian Rupp (ed.), Power and Responsibility, pages 345-357, Springer.
    9. Vahabi,Mehrdad, 2019. "The Political Economy of Predation," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107591370.
    10. Edward Peter Stringham, 2023. "Banking regulation got you down? The rise of fintech and cryptointermediation in Africa," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 197(3), pages 455-470, December.
    11. repec:jpe:journl:1318 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Peter J. Boettke & Rosolino A. Candela, 2021. "János Kornai, the Austrians, and the political and economic analysis of socialism," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 187(1), pages 85-97, April.
    13. Ennio E. Piano, 2019. "State capacity and public choice: a critical survey," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 178(1), pages 289-309, January.
    14. Klick, Jonathan, 2006. "Salvation as a selective incentive," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 15-32, March.
    15. Christian A. L. Hilber, 2017. "The Economic Implications of House Price Capitalization: A Synthesis," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 45(2), pages 301-339, April.
    16. Melle Marco C., 2014. "Eine europäische Bemessungsgrundlage für die Körperschaftsteuer? Konzeption und ordnungsökonomische Analyse / Conceptual design and constitutional economics analysis of a European tax base for corporate taxation," ORDO. Jahrbuch für die Ordnung von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, De Gruyter, vol. 65(1), pages 133-156, January.
    17. Ilia Murtazashvili & Jennifer Murtazashvili, 2015. "Anarchy, self-governance, and legal titling," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 162(3), pages 287-305, March.
    18. Giorgio Coricelli & Dietmar Fehr & Gerlinde Fellner, 2004. "Partner Selection in Public Goods Experiments," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 48(3), pages 356-378, June.
    19. Alexander William Salter & Andrew T. Young, 2018. "Medieval representative assemblies: collective action and antecedents of limited government," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 171-192, June.
    20. Rashid Mehmood & Sara Sadiq, 2010. "Impact of Fiscal Decentralisation on Human Development: A Case Study of Pakistan," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 49(4), pages 513-530.
    21. Johansson, Börje, 2004. "Parsing the Menagerie of Agglomeration and Network Externalities," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 2, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    22. Spash, Clive L., 2021. "The History of Pollution ‘Externalities’ in Economic Thought," SRE-Discussion Papers 2021/01, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • B53 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Austrian
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • P26 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Property Rights

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:afd:wpaper:2403. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AFED (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/afeddea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.