Abstract

This dissertation consists in an examination of the way in which the theory and practice of politics has become subservient to economic theory and practice. While I claim that this subservience appears in both the Marxist and the liberal political traditions, it is on the latter that I concentrate. ;The theoretical issues taken up are as follows: the question of the formation of the state; the question of the agenda for state action, and the question of the nature of democratic politics. The practical issue discussed concerns the growing pressure within present-day liberal societies to insulate large areas of economic decision-making from the pressures of politics, on the grounds that this is required to prevent the kind of economic mismanagement which could undermine the foundations on which liberal societies rest. ;Two principal points are derived from a detailed analysis of the role of categories and concerns drawn from economics in attempts to come to grips with these issues. The first is that the writers in question present a thorougly instrumentalist conception of the state, and picture the citizen simply as a consumer of state-provided goods and services. Such a view represents a complete break with the classical tradition of political thought. The second point is that the theories devised show serious weaknesses, which indicates that the complete translation of key political issues into the language of economics cannot be effected. ;The dissertation suggests that this fact is cause for hope, for it may well be that the gains in individual freedoms which are the legacy of liberalism can now best be preserved through a reinvigoration of the political life of liberal societies, whereby new meaning is given to the conception and practice of citizenship. The failure of the various attempts to explicate political issues germane to liberal democracies in economic terms suggests that these societies contain both theoretical and practical scope for a rejuvenation of their political life.