Calculus of Consent

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Co-authored by Buchanan and Gordon Tullock, this classic work represents a significant shift in understanding how democracies function. It examines the political organization of a free society through an economic lens, despite the authors' initial discomfort with this approach. They venture into this unfamiliar territory, believing that their insights will yield valuable outcomes. Their primary aim is to analyze the rational individual's decision-making process regarding constitutional choices, focusing on decision-making rules. This perspective is termed “economic individualism.” The authors argue that while economists have extensively studied individual choice in markets, social scientists have largely overlooked the dynamics of individual decision-making in public sector group actions. Written in the early 1960s, this work has become foundational for the public choice movement, for which Buchanan is renowned. Buchanan, an eminent economist and Nobel laureate, is celebrated as one of the foremost scholars of liberty in the twentieth century. The book is part of a comprehensive series that delves into various aspects of public choice and constitutional economics.