Public Choice and Politics Without Romance (with Mike Munger)

Public choice theory provides a framework for understanding politics by stripping away romanticized notions of government as a benevolent, unitary actor. Instead, political outcomes emerge from the complex interactions of self-interested individuals operating within specific institutional constraints. This perspective emphasizes methodological individualism and behavioral symmetry, asserting that politicians and bureaucrats respond to incentives just as market participants do. Applying small-group norms—such as altruism or intimate knowledge of preferences—to the macro-level political order often proves destructive, as these instincts fail to scale. The current political climate reflects a shift away from classical liberal values of humility and tolerance toward a more dangerous, centralized struggle for power. This erosion of norms, combined with the lack of effective competition in political systems, leaves citizens vulnerable to the whims of organized interests rather than the pursuit of the common good.