Schools of Thought
Public Choice Theory
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Public choice theory applies the analytical tools of economics, especially rational self-interest, to the study of political behavior: voters, politicians and bureaucrats. Duncan Black is sometimes called the founding father of public choice for work beginning in 1948, but James M. Buchanan and Gordon Tullock developed the field most comprehensively in their 1962 book The Calculus of Consent, work for which Buchanan received the 1986 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. The approach is closely associated with the Virginia School of political economy.
Facts
Start YearMarks the publication of Buchanan and Tullock's The Calculus of Consent, the field's foundational synthesis; Duncan Black's 1948 work is sometimes cited as an earlier antecedent. Core TenetGovernment officials, bureaucrats and politicians are modeled as self-interested actors pursuing their own goals, such as re-election, budget or agency growth, rather than as neutral servants of a public interest, which yields testable predictions about regulation, voting rules and bureaucratic behavior. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated Figures and Events
Buchanan co-authored The Calculus of Consent (1962) with Gordon Tullock, which first outlined public choice theory in full, and is recognized as the field's co-founder.
Associated With
Both schools share the Bloomington/Virginia-adjacent rational-choice institutionalist tradition and analyze collective decision-making through the same methodological individualist lens.
Sources
1. Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationPublic choice theoryQuote, Public choice theory
the use of economic tools to deal with traditional problems of political science
1. Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationPublic choice theory, self-interested agentsView the Source 1. Wikipedia
1. Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated Figures and Events: James M. Buchanan, James M. Buchanan, Collaboration with Gordon TullockQuote, Associated Figures and Events: James M. Buchanan, James M. Buchanan, Collaboration with Gordon Tullock
Buchanan co-authored The Calculus of Consent with Gordon Tullock in 1962, which first outlined public choice theory
1. Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Bloomington School, Bloomington school, Public Choice and Constitutional Governance sectionQuote, Associated With: Bloomington School, Bloomington school, Public Choice and Constitutional Governance section
The Bloomington School is closely aligned with public choice theory.
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