“Hayek’s view of democracy as a process of forming opinion is taken as a starting point for inquiring into issues largely neglected by Public Choice and Constitutional Economics. In an Austrian perspective, fallible individual knowledge, political entrepreneurs and dissenting minorities attain a distinctive role in the process of political competition. Based on the observation that political opinions consist of preferences and theories, the concept of ‘‘opinion falsification’’ is introduced. It is a spontaneous result of social interaction creating ‘‘preference falsification’’ – the disguise of true feelings, but also ‘‘knowledge falsification’’ – the discovery of false beliefs. Democratic constitutions can limit the scope of preference falsification and increase the potential for knowledge falsification, thus supporting Hayek’s view that ‘‘it is in its dynamic, rather than its static, aspects, that the value of democracy proves itself’’”. (Michael Wohlgemuth).

Guest: Vlad Tarko

Text: Michael Wohlgemuth, “Democracy and Opinion Falsification. Towards a New Austrian Political Economy”.