Barry R. Weingast, Donald A. Wittman (Editors) Books
Barry R. Weingast is a professor of political science at Stanford University, known for his work on political institutions and economic development.
Known for: The Oxford Handbook of Political Economy
Books by Barry R. Weingast, Donald A. Wittman (Editors)
The Oxford Handbook of Political Economy
The Oxford Handbook of Political Economy is a landmark reference work that explains one of the most important realities of modern life: economies do not operate in a political vacuum. Edited by Barry R. Weingast and Donald A. Wittman, the volume brings together leading scholars to examine how institutions, incentives, elections, regulation, state capacity, and international forces shape economic outcomes. Rather than treating politics as a distortion of ideal markets, the book shows that political rules are part of the system that determines who gets what, when, and how. What makes this handbook especially valuable is its breadth. It moves from foundational theories such as rational choice and public choice to practical questions about democracy, federalism, development, redistribution, and reform. The result is both a map of the field and a toolkit for understanding real-world issues, from why some countries prosper while others stagnate to why good policy ideas often fail in practice. Weingast, a major scholar of institutions and development, and Wittman, a respected economist in public choice and political economy, give the collection unusual authority. For students, policymakers, and serious readers, this is an essential guide to how politics and economics continuously shape one another.
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Politics Is Built on Incentives
A powerful starting insight of political economy is that political actors are not fundamentally different from economic actors: they respond to incentives, constraints, and opportunities. Voters, legislators, bureaucrats, judges, interest groups, and executives all make choices within institutional ...
From The Oxford Handbook of Political Economy
Institutions Shape Growth and Governance
Countries rarely prosper by accident; they prosper when institutions make productive behavior safer and predatory behavior harder. One of the handbook’s central themes is that institutions are the architecture of political and economic life. Constitutions, legislatures, courts, electoral rules, prop...
From The Oxford Handbook of Political Economy
Democracy, Autocracy, and Accountability Tradeoffs
One of the most enduring questions in political economy is whether democracy produces better economic outcomes than autocracy. The handbook avoids simplistic answers. Instead, it shows that regime type matters through accountability, information, commitment, and time horizons. Democracies often perf...
From The Oxford Handbook of Political Economy
Federalism Can Empower or Fragment
Dividing power across levels of government is often praised as a way to bring decision-making closer to citizens, but the handbook shows that federalism is a double-edged sword. Decentralization can encourage policy innovation, local accountability, and healthy competition among jurisdictions. It ca...
From The Oxford Handbook of Political Economy
Interest Groups Drive Policy Outcomes
Policies often look puzzling until you ask a simple question: who is organized? The handbook highlights the central role of interest groups in shaping legislation, regulation, taxation, and public spending. In theory, governments act on behalf of the public. In practice, organized groups frequently ...
From The Oxford Handbook of Political Economy
Elections Inform, Reward, and Distort
Elections are often celebrated as the core mechanism of accountability, but the handbook shows they do more than simply remove bad leaders. Elections generate information, shape policy timing, influence coalition-building, and create incentives that can improve or undermine governance. Their value l...
From The Oxford Handbook of Political Economy
About Barry R. Weingast, Donald A. Wittman (Editors)
Barry R. Weingast is a professor of political science at Stanford University, known for his work on political institutions and economic development. Donald A. Wittman is a professor of economics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, specializing in political economy and public choice theory.
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Barry R. Weingast is a professor of political science at Stanford University, known for his work on political institutions and economic development.
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