The Constraints of Political Science

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Mike Munger: Political science does tell us that there are constraints on what we can reasonably hope to accomplish through politics. He says the Arab Spring ignored Cox, North and Weingast proportionality theorem. "You should be really humble about creating a politically powerful organization"

Economist and political scientist Michael Munger of Duke University talks about industrial policy with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Munger argues that in a democracy, the default outcome for industrial policy is crony capitalism--attempts to improve on that outcome either by appointing experts or eliminating cronyism are going to fail for political reasons. The conversation concludes with a discussion of the reliability of Munger's claim and what options are left for dissatisfied reformers.