American Pragmatism in the 20th Essay

Neo-liberal policy theories are best understood when delineating Williamson's (1990) "Washington's Consensus" that first introduced and pioneered the concept.

Williamson sought to transfer control of the economy from the public to the private sector believing that this would improve the economic health of the nation and make for a more efficient government. His 10 points included the recommendations that: tax reform would encourage innovation and efficiency; that by governments running large deficits they were, potentially, ruining themselves; that public spending should be redirected to more humane systems such as pro-growth and pro-poor services; that there should b trade liberalization policies as well as encouraging opportunities for investment in foreign projects; privatization of state enterprises; fianncialiaziton of capital; deregulation of restrictions that hamper competition; and privation of state enterprises.

Whilst on first blush, neoliberalism seems to cohere precisely with pragmatism in that it encourages private competition and seeks to transfer power from one central entity (the government) to various entities, it can also be seen as positive that one 'truth' exists (i.e. The private sector) to the detriment of the other (the government), whilst pragmatism accords equal 'truth' to all sectors.References

Felkins, L. (1997) Introduction to Public Choice Theory,

http://perspicuity.net/sd/pub-choice.html

James, W. 1907. Pragmatism: A New Name for some Old Ways of Thinking, Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1975.

-- -- 1909. The Meaning of Truth, Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1975.

Krasner, Stephen D. (ed). 1983. International Regimes. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Manley, JF (1983) Neo-Pluralism: A Class analysis of Pluralism I and Pluralism II. Am. Pol. Science Review 77, 368-383

Williamson, John (1990) "What Washington Means by Policy….....