This definitive book examines and engages with the work of Vincent and Elinor Ostrom, along with the Bloomington School of Political Economy more generally. The contributors emphasize the continuing relevance of the Ostroms’ work on collective action, self-governance, and institutional diversity for interdisciplinary research in the social sciences and humanities. This book’s wide array of topics and approaches will be a valuable resource to readers in a variety of fields, including: political science, economics, philosophy, sociology, public administration, environmental studies, and political economy.

Polycentric Governance and the Good Society: A Normative and Philosophical Investigation offers an examination of the idea of polycentric governance as one of the pillars of a flourishing human society. Rather than following the conventional path of suppressing complexity and diversity for the sake of reaching agreement on justice and political stability, David Thunder and Pablo Paniagua see complexity and diversity as assets that should be leveraged to make the "Open Society" a more prosperous, resilient, and flourishing place to live. Polycentric Governance and the Good Society provides valuable food for thought for academics and students looking for a probing, cross-disciplinary discussion of the ethos and institutions of liberal democracy under conditions of social pluralism. Although the volume includes diverse disciplinary lenses, such as public choice theory, MacIntyrean social theory, and constitutional law, the driving concern is to exhibit the potential advantages of polycentric approaches to governance and social coordination for constructing a feasible and morally attractive social order. This is the first extended academic work to explore in depth the advantages, not only from an economic and organizational standpoint but also from a broader ethical, sociological, and anthropological perspective, of polycentric governance arrangements.

What is the nature of economics? How does economics relate to politics? Readers searching for the Ancient Greeks’ answers to these questions often turn to Aristotle, focusing on small portions of the Politics and Nicomachean Ethics that relate to money-making, exchange, and household management. While this approach yields some understanding of economics and politics, it fails to account for how Aristotle’s theoretical inquiry into these practical matters reflects the character of his political philosophy. According to Aristotle, the Ethics and Politics together form “the philosophy concerning the human things.” All human things begin with choice, an intellectual desire and need for the good. Aristotle’s care for this desire is the heart of his political philosophy. Through a close, literal, and careful reading of Aristotle’s political philosophy, readers discover the natural boundaries to economic and political life. Simultaneously theoretical and practical, Aristotle’s political philosophy offers readers a perspective of economics and politics that provides them the experience of the knowledge they need to desire and live within the limit of the good.

The chapters in this volume explore, engage and expand on the key thinkers and ideas of the Austrian, Virginia, and Bloomington schools of political economy. The book emphasizes the continuing relevance of the contributions of these schools of thought to our understanding of cultural, social, moral and historical processes for interdisciplinary research in the social sciences and humanities. An analysis of human action that deliberate divorces it from cultural, social, moral and historical processes will (at least) limit and (at worst) distort our understanding of human phenomena. The diversity in topics and approaches will make the volume of interest to readers in a variety of fields, including: anthropology, communications, East Asian languages & literature, economics, law, musicology, philosophy, and political science.

This book asks several critical questions relevant to those interested in public policy: What is a nudge? What are the ethical implications of and justifications for nudges? Are we able to have nudges without affecting one’s freedom to choose? In what institutional context are nudges likely to work well and in what context are they likely to fail? The text explores several real-world instances of government attempts at successful choice architecture across a wide range of policy topics: internet privacy laws, environmental policy, education policy, the sharing economy, and creating a national culture. This approach also highlights the spontaneous and evolutionary nature of social institutions like culture and trust. Attempts from policymakers to generate these social institutions where they did not exist previously are unlikely to succeed unless they are aligned with the unique characteristics of the society in question. This raises the question of whether the seemingly successful policy interventions were even necessary. A few of the chapters in this book directly examine these issues through case studies of both Latin America and Singapore. Each chapter in this volume explores the ways in which individuals in society respond to attempts by policymakers to “nudge” them towards a specific outcome. Some chapters explore the theoretical arguments in favor of utilizing this behavioral policy approach. Others explore the feasibility and potential limitations of this approach to public policy. Several of the chapters apply market process theory to understand a particular case study where nudge policies have been put into practice. The chapters, authored by an interdisciplinary group of policy scholars, include discussions of internet privacy laws, the sharing economy, education policy, environmental policy, as well as social issues such as trust and culture.

In Christianity and the Nation-State, Gary Chartier provocatively offers readers unexpected critical distance from some familiar ways of understanding, justifying, and navigating existing political arrangements. People in multiple societies are posing important questions about the authority and functions of the contemporary nation-state and about potential alternatives to this seemingly inescapable institution. Chartier seeks to develop a distinctive theological response to the conditions prompting these questions. Affirming liberalism and cosmopolitanism, he reflects critically on nationalism, localism, religious establishment, and theological accounts of political authority. He highlights links between sin and state power and underscores deficiencies in democratic rhetoric and theory. He rejects the idea of a global government, advocating a nonterritorial alternative he labels 'radical consociationalism. Moreover, he presents concrete suggestions for life under the rule of the state.

This interdisciplinary volume explores and engages the key thinkers and ideas of the Austrian School of political economy to better understand aspects of the market process and its implications for everything from disaster recovery and political development to morality and monetary policy.

This book provides an expansive review of the public goods theme and highlights the inherent linkage between sustainable development and corporate responsibility for improving the current and future welfare of communities both at home and abroad. The main proposition here is that sustainable development is focused on preserving and maintaining public goods. Consequently, whoever uses public goods is liable for their preservation, their maintenance, and, where they are underdeveloped, for their expansion. Successful delivery, both now and in the future, depends on a positive relationship of the public sector with the private sector. This book will serve to stimulate discussions of scholars and policy makers in the field of sustainable development with business leaders, and will close the gap between the public and the private sectors by building a common understanding and common methodologies for implementing and measuring sustainable development in the macro- and the micro-spheres.

James M. Buchanan, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1986, was a pioneer of public choice and constitutional political economy, as well as contributing to many fields of study, including philosophy, political science, and public finance. Each chapter in this volume seeks to explore, critique, and emphasize the continuing relevance of the vast contributions of Buchanan to our understanding of political economy and social philosophy. The diversity in topics and approaches will make the volume of interest to readers in a variety of fields, and accessible to scholars from a variety of backgrounds providing the opportunity to further a cross-disciplinary exploration and discussion on market process theory.

In this important compendium, one of the leading scholars of EU law and its legal framework, reflects on his previous writings in the context of current challenges the European project is facing. More than a simple restatement, it offers an important theoretical comment at this defining time for EU law. The author offers a welcome counterbalance to what some perceive to be a surfeit of optimism when assessing the EU and its development. In so doing, Professor Joerges identifies three flaws in the current European ideology. Firstly, he points to the intellectual weakness of the “integration through law” ideology. Secondly, the book sets out the systematic neglect of “the economic” and its political dynamics. Finally, it addresses the complacency with respect to Europe's darker legacies. This is an important critical (and candid) assessment of Europe at its half century.