Donald A. Wittman The Myth of Democratic Failure Reviews Summary

Comprehensive overview of public choice literature

Addresses the rational expectation hypothesis

Flawed assumptions about democracy

Confuses wealth maximization with Pareto efficiency

Ignores empirical evidence on special interest groups

Claims voters are well informed without proving it

Fails to account for variations in economic performance among democracies

Dismisses empirical realities about wasteful bureaucracies

Neglects the influence of ideology in democracies

Lack of attention to constitutional and institutional reform