Democracy versus Neoliberalism: The Second Dewey-Lippmann Debate

Abstract

The original 1920s debate between John Dewey and Walter Lippmann concerned whether the modern electorate can meaningfully engage in democratic self-rule rather than be ruled by technocratic experts. Less well known is the further disagreement between these two thinkers sparked by Lippmann’s 1937 book The Good Society. This work was seminal for the development of free market neoliberalism and is linked to both F. A. Hayek’s 1944 The Road to Serfdom and the founding of the Mont Pelerin Society. The core of Lippmann’s political theory is a liberal conception of the rule of law as the framework for the competitive market and a constraint on the democratic state. Dewey, fierce critic of capitalism, harshly reviewed Lippmann’s book, insisting on democratic control of the economy, though he failed to satisfactorily specify how that would work. This second Dewey-Lippmann debate is a forerunner of current theoretical disputes over the compatibility of neoliberalism and democracy.