Fighting Power with Power

Abstract

Abstract This chapter applies the ideal of resisting state capture to the second major task of democratic theory, as outlined in Chapter 1: namely, developing an agenda for the reform of law and policy. It begins by reframing this task in terms of a “dilemma of public and private power.” Previous chapters concluded that deepening democracy would require ambitious state action aimed at dispersing private power—especially through policies of anti-monopoly, countervailing power, and systemic redistribution. Yet empowering state actors also invites capture by the very hegemonic groups those policies are designed to constrain. As such, the key challenge for reformers is to find the safest and most efficient ways of advancing these democratic goals. After reformulating the task of democratic reformers in terms of this dilemma, the chapter presents a three-stage process for addressing it. First, they should ask which general approach to state involvement in different policy areas will most likely minimize capture. Second, they should ask how substantive policy tools can be designed to advance democratic aims while minimizing their susceptibility to capture. And third, they should ask what kinds of procedural mechanisms can most effectively insulate such ambitious forms of state action from capture. The chapter works through each question in turn, endorsing significant but not overwhelming public ownership and participation in private markets; a structuralist approach to policy that favors simplicity, transparency, and adversarialism; and procedural reforms that institutionalize oppositional expertise, employ randomly selected citizens in an oversight capacity, and create leverage points for popular mobilization.