Politics by Principle, Not Interest

"The idea that legislation should be general and non-discriminatory - that equals should be treated equally - is hardly new. But the notion that this idea might be a constitutional principle, serving to promote political efficiency in the face of the scope for special interest politics that simple majoritarianism provides - THAT notion is a distinctively 'public choice' one, and receives here at the hands of Buchanan and Congleton its most elegant, detailed and compelling exposition." Geoffrey Brennan, Australian National University

• List of figures and tables; Preface; Acknowledgements; Part I. Introduction: 1. Generality, law, and politics; Part II. Analysis: 2. Majoritarian democracy; 3. Eliminating the off-diagonals; 4. Extending the argument; 5. Generality and the political agenda; Part III. Application: 6. Generality and externality; 7. Market restriction and the generality norm; 8. The political efficiency of general taxation; 9. Deficit financing and intertemporal discrimination; 10. Generality and the supply of public services; 11. Generality and redistribution; 12. Generality without uniformity: social insurance; 13. Generality without uniformity: federalism; Part IV. Prospect: 14. The political shape of constitutional order; Endnotes; References; Index.