Joan Aron’s 1997 book Licensed to Kill? is a detailed case study of the decisions made by the public utility company LILCO, the AEC and NRC, New York state and local authorities, and citizen activist groups that led to the costliest failed investment in the history of nuclear power in the United States. In 1991 Continue reading

Marx had something of a theory of politics and somewhat less of a theory of government. The slogan “the capitalist state serves as the managing committee of the bourgeoisie” represents the simplest version of his view. He generally regarded government and law as an expression of class interests. That said, Marx was not much of Continue reading

Suppose we are willing to take seriously the idea that organizations possess a kind of intentionality — beliefs, goals, and purposive actions — and suppose that we believe that the microfoundations of these quasi-intentional states depend on the workings of individual purposive actors within specific sets of relations, incentives, and practices. How does the resulting Continue reading

We often speak of government as if it has intentions, beliefs, fears, plans, and phobias. This sounds a lot like a mind. But this impression is fundamentally misleading. “Government” is not a conscious entity with a unified apperception of the world and its own intentions. So it is worth teasing out the ways in which Continue reading

[J writes: “your co-authored commentary on “What is critical realism” would fit into chapter 1 of this book.”] Adding material on critical realism makes good sense. Continue reading

When we discuss the ontology of various aspects of the social world, we are often thinking of such things as institutions, organizations, social networks, value systems, and the like. These examples pick out features of the world that are relatively stable and functional. Where does an imperfection or dysfunction of social life like corruption fit Continue reading

Government “wants” to bring about certain outcomes: collect taxes, regulate dangerous industries, establish a code of law, provide universal public schooling. But how does the “will of government” come to be? This question seems simple, but it isn’t. There is first the large distinction between democracies and authoritarian regimes. Legislation within a democracy has one Continue reading

A fundamental problem for understanding the mechanics of government is the question of how the will and intentions of government (policies, rules, tax schemes) are conveyed from the sites of decision-making to the behavior of the actors whom these policies are meant to influence.  The familiar principal-agent problem designates precisely this complex of issues. Applying Continue reading

Social ontology of government Daniel Little, University of Michigan Book proposal: A short and accessible treatment of the nature of the social realities and causal powers of government. The book is intended for a general audience, suitable for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and scholars with an interest in arriving at new ways of thinking about Continue reading

Social ontology of government Philosophers of social science have directed renewed attention to issues of ontology with regard to the social world. What kind of entities, powers, forces, and relations exist in the social realm? What kind of relations tie them together? What are some of the mechanisms and causal powers that constitute the workings Continue reading