The Epistemological Foundations of Public Choice Theory

The new political economy - public choice - has contributed considerably to a long-awaited inter-marriage between political science and economics. The economic approach to the interpretation of the public sector - politics as well as administration - has resulted in a number of interestingly relevant models. At the same time modelling political behaviour on the basis of the economic man perspective gives rise to puzzling difficulties creating much controversy. The article attempts to establish in principle the ethically neutral and scientifically objective nature of the public choice approach. It elaborates on the crucial concept of self-interest in the public choice behaviour assumptions in order to show that the criticism from the public interest adherents may be countered.