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Homo Oeconomicus and Homo Politicus. Political Economy, Constitutional Interest and Ecological Interest

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  • Malte Faber
  • Reiner Manstetten
  • Thomas Petersen

Abstract

SUMMARY Are modern democracies capable of preserving the constitution of liberty and capable of preserving the natural basis of human existence in the long‐run? The achievement of these aims requires political actions toward fundamental changes in the life of modern societies. The respective political actors have to develop and to sustain long‐term constitutional and ecological interests. Can these actors be conceived as homines oeconomici? Within public choice there have been important attempts to derive long‐term interests on the basis of homo oeconomicus. These attempts have led, however, to theoretical difficulties. To develop a solution we introduce the notion of homo politicus. Homo politicus is concerned with the common search for the general interest of a political community which in traditional philosophy is called ‘justice’. The concepts of homo oeconomicus and homo politicus are not mutually exclusive alternatives, but dimensions of human behaviour. Neither of them can be empirically observed in its pure form. We argue that we need a combination of both concepts to understand political phenomena. Thereby we seek to contribute to a theoretical basis which allows the derivation of the constitutional interest and the ecological interest. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Können moderne demokratische Rechtsstaaten langfristig eine freiheitliche Verfassung bewahrcn und den Fortbestand der natürlichen Lebensgrundlagen sichern? Die Verwirklichung dieser beiden Ziele macht politische Handlungen erforderlich, die zu fundamentalen Änderungen in der Lebensweise moderner Gesellschaften führen. Die politisch Handelnden müssen hierzu von langfristigen Interessen an einer freiheitlichen Verfassung (konstitutionelles Interesse) und am Fortbestand der natürlichen Lebensgrundlagen (ökologisches Interesse) geleitet wcrden. Können diese politisch Handelnden angemessen als homines oeconomici aufgefasst werden? In der Public Choice sind bedeutsame Versuche unternommen worden, Langzeitintcressen auf der Basis des homo oeconomicus abzuleiten. Dabei ergaben sich indes beträchtliche konzeptionelle Probleme. Um eine Lösung denkbar zu machen, führen wir den Begriff des homo politicus ein. Der homo politicus ist der Mensch, insofern er sich gemeinsam mil andern in einem Handlungsfeld betätigt, in dem es um das allgemeine Interesse einer Gesellschaft, in der philosophischen Tradition: um die ‘Gerechtig‐keit’, geht. Die Konzepte des homo oeconomicus und des homo politicus schliessen sich nicht gegenseitig aus, sondern verweisen auf verschiedene Dimensionen menschlichen Verhaltens, die in ihrer Reinform empirisch nicht beobachtet werden. Wir sind der Ansicht, dass die Untersuchung politischer Phänomene vielfach eine Kombination beider Konzepte erforderlich macht. Unser Ansatz versteht sich als Beitrag zu einer theoretischen Grundlegung, die die Ableitung des konstitutionellen und des ökologischen Interesses ermöglichen soll. RÉSUMÉ Est‐ce que les démocraties modernes sont capables de préserver la constitution de la liberté et en měme temps la base naturelle de l'existence humaine? Pour attcindre ces buts, il faut des actions politiques pour des changements fundamentals dans les societés modernes. II faut que les acteurs politiques développent et soutiennent un interět constitutionel et un interět ěcologique à long terme. Est‐ce qu'il est possible que ces acteurs soient dénotés comme homines oeconomici? Dans la théorie de public choice il y avait des essais importants de dériver des interets à long terme en base de l'homo oeconomicus. Mais ces essais ont menés à de graves difficultés théoretiques. En adressant ces problèmes nous introduisons la notion homo politicus. Homo politicus est concernéà l'action politique. Cette action consiste en la recherche de 1 interět général d'une communité politique que l'on appelle ‘justice’. Les conceptes de homo oeconomkus et homo politicus ne s'exclusent pas mais sont des dimensions differents de la manière d'agir humaine. Aucune ne peut ětre observéc dans sa forme pure. Nous argumentons que souvent l'on a besoin d'une combinaison des ces deux concepts pour bien comprendre des phénomènes politiques. Avec cet article nous essayons de contribuer à la base théorique qui permet la derivation de l'interět constitutionel et de l'interět écologique.

Suggested Citation

  • Malte Faber & Reiner Manstetten & Thomas Petersen, 1997. "Homo Oeconomicus and Homo Politicus. Political Economy, Constitutional Interest and Ecological Interest," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(4), pages 457-483, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:kyklos:v:50:y:1997:i:4:p:457-483
    DOI: 10.1111/1467-6435.00026
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    Cited by:

    1. Malte Faber & Ralph Winkler, 2006. "Heterogeneity and Time," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(3), pages 803-825, July.
    2. Lee-Peuker, Mi-Yong & Klauer, Bernd, 2010. "Bringing about institutional change in public brownfield management: The case of Saxony-Anhalt (Germany)," UFZ Discussion Papers 5/2010, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Division of Social Sciences (ÖKUS).
    3. Becker, Christian, 2006. "The human actor in ecological economics: Philosophical approach and research perspectives," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 17-23, November.
    4. João Rogério Sanson, 2007. "Ethics, politics, and Nonsatiation in Consumption: A Synthesis," Economia, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics], vol. 8(1), pages 1-20.
    5. Becker, Christian & Faber, Malte & Hertel, Kirsten & Manstetten, Reiner, 2005. "Malthus vs. Wordsworth: Perspectives on humankind, nature and economy. A contribution to the history and the foundations of ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 299-310, May.
    6. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Benno Torgler, 2009. "The Evolution of Tax Morale in Modern Spain," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(1), pages 1-28.
    7. Benno Torgler & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2005. "The Evolution of Tax Morale in Modern Spain (2005)," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0521, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    8. Alicja Małgorzata Graczyk, 2021. "Households Behaviour towards Sustainable Energy Management in Poland—The Homo Energeticus Concept as a New Behaviour Pattern in Sustainable Economics," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-30, May.
    9. Faber, Malte & Petersen, Thomas & Schiller, Johannes, 2002. "Homo oeconomicus and homo politicus in Ecological Economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 323-333, March.
    10. Damianus Abun & Libertine Gertrude R. Macaspac & Theogenia Magallanes & Nimfa C. Catbagan & Jecel M. Mansueto, 2022. "The effect of organizational politics on the individual work performance," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 11(2), pages 157-171, March.
    11. Malte Faber & Thomas Petersen, 2008. "Gerechtigkeit und Marktwirtschaft – das Problem der Arbeitslosigkeit," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 9(4), pages 405-423, November.
    12. Heinzel, Christoph & Winkler, Ralph, 2006. "Gradual versus structural technological change in the transition to a low-emission energy industry: How time-to-build and differing social and individual discount rates influence environmental and tec," Dresden Discussion Paper Series in Economics 09/06, Technische Universität Dresden, Faculty of Business and Economics, Department of Economics.
    13. Faber, Malte & Petersen, Thomas, 2012. "The Environmental Aspect of “Making People Rich as the Top Priority” in China: a Marxian Perspective," Working Papers 0526, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    14. Faber, Malte & Frick, Marc & Manstetten, Reiner, 2021. "Die Online-Plattform MINE - eine Brücke zwischen Umwelt und Wirtschaft," Working Papers 0701, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.

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