Why Neoliberalism Spread in Some Countries, But Not Others

Abstract

The goal of this chapter is to contribute to the reflection on the role of ideas in political science by attempting a theoretical understanding of three questions. First, why do some ideas have more impact on public policy than others? Second, why has neoliberalism triumphed in some countries but not in others? And third, why has neoliberalism been less influential in France than elsewhere? It reviews and discusses the theoretical explanations that emerge from the comparative literature on the spread of political ideologies (the role of globalisation, class interest, number of institutional veto players, partisanship). The chapter then presents studies that draw on these explanations to understand the spread of neoliberalism in France, and points out their limitations. They failed to take seriously into account ideas in order to explain changes in public policies: ideas matter because they help policymakers to understand facts and take decisions in a complex world. The seriousness and the credibility of ideas of public policies are therefore central to explain the nature of changes in the policymaking. Finally, the chapter formulates the general theoretical framework of the book by proposing a theory of the cost of justifying an ideology which depends on two factors. First, on the size of people who share their beliefs: the more people an individual share an ideology with, the lower the individual cost of justifying that ideology to policymakers. The less public opinion agrees with an ideology, the less successful its promoters will be in implementing the public policies associated with it. Second, the cost of justifying on the expert opinion regarding the ideology in question; the more experts or authorities in a field (i.e. economists in the field of economic policies) are opposed to the new paradigm, the higher the cost of its justification will be. And their positioning depends in turn on the structure of the institutions in which they produce their expertise. The more a country’s knowledge regime fosters policy innovation by integrating a plurality of actors, the more likely it is that neoliberals will be able to influence the decision-making of political elites. Despite those justification costs, the success of intellectual entrepreneurs also depends on their strategical abilities to spread their ideas.