Competition and Selection in Political Economy

Abstract

Any competitive process selects among qualities possessed by the competitors, and with different processes selecting for different qualities. With respect to athletic competition, for instance, diving selects for different qualities than swimming. This paper compares electoral and market competition in terms of the qualities for which they select. Markets and politics are both forms of competitive endeavor that generate forms of cooperation, but the particular qualities selected should be observed to differ due to differences in the environments in which selection occurs. While it is possible to imagine institutional circumstances under which similar qualities will be selected through both processes, the weight of plausible reasoning is on the side of notable differences between electoral and market competition.

Keywords: selection of qualities, competitive selection, markets vs. elections, substantive rationalities, environments and rationalities, generative analysis, degeneracy, lexicographic ordering, evolutionary political economy

JEL Classification: B52, D23, D83, L33, P26