Full Description
The aim of the book is to reevaluate inner dymamics of, and tensions between, individuals who are active in the political process as members of interest groups. To that end, the author creates a model for the individual reasoning, preferences, and motivations made manifest in their observable behavior. This is achieved by analyzing the conduct of individuals in society according to the increasing complexity of interaction in the public sphere. The analysis starts with the ethical concerns of individuals and moves towards their capacities as citizens, voters, and politicians. The author then addresses aspects of social contract theory, as well as the uncertainty that is an inherent part of social
cooperation. An interdisciplinary approach to public choice, as well as elements of constitutional economy, political philosophy, and ethics are brought together to question our understanding of the way individuals and interest groups
operate in the political sphere due to serious inconsistencies of individual reasoning within the latter.
Contents
Acknowledgements — Introduction — Chapter 1 Ethics and self- interest in the writings of James M. Buchanan and its philosophical implications for human behavior — Chapter 2 Individual citizens as voters and politicians — Chapter 3 Social contract and the grounds for the emergence of interest groups — Chapter 4 Uncertainty behind social contracts — Chapter 5 Individual calculus of interest group members — Chapter 6 Factoring group interests and private calculus into political processes — Bibliography — Index
