Why I Fear a One-Party State
18th May 2009
Arnold Kling attempts to scare our socks off.
I am not upset with political trends because I want Republicans to win. I am upset because I foresee a one-party state. Even if neither party is particularly libertarian, gridlock and competitive checks and balances are better for libertarians. Moreover, a one-party state is corrupt and backward relative to what we are used to. Again, I just come from reading North, Wallis, and Weingast, and a major characteristic of a “natural” state is that every economic organization must necessarily be a political organization. What we are seeing now, with government threatening private business executives while rewarding lobbyists with “stimulus” (see Russ Roberts, for example), is “natural state” behavior.
As for various commenters who assure me that there is some natural tendency for a second party to be competitive, allow me introduce to you to Montgomery County, Maryland, as well as to many large American cities. In fact, it is quite easy for a one-party government to emerge when there are ethnic blocs and a large public sector relative to the private sector.