مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - Hayek, Friedman and the Conception of the State

Abstract :

The neo-liberal state theory has been spread thorough the world after the economic crisis of 1970’s. The belief that the state intervention policies of Keynesian period have caused the crisis gave rise to the spread of neo-liberal theory that questioned the economic role of the state. Neo-liberal state theory criticized the welfare state politics on the ground that market will bring more liberty if it works in full competition without state intervention. Based on the classical liberal assumption of “the invisible hand”, it is suggested that market without state intervention, is the ideal way to organize society and the happiness of every individual would be realized in this way. It is claimed that the market as a mechanism to address the weak and incompetent and to bring out the talented elites will provide the maximization of the overall good of society. In this context the sole mission of the state is believed to guarantee the environment that ensures the functioning of the market. Thus the task of state has been redefined by neo-liberalism as a “gendarmerie or the caretaker government” in the sense of ‘guardian of law and order’. In this study, the state theory of neo-liberal current were investigated through ideas of two important representatives of neo-liberalism, Friedrich A. von Hayek and Milton Friedman. The subject of the first part of the study is Hayek’s conception of the state, while the second part is devoted to Friedman’s thought. Both thinker’s views on the state are necessarily supported by the sections explaining their ideas about the market, the society and the human individual. Furthermore, Hayek and Friedman’s thoughts on equality, freedom, and the welfare state are also included. Moreover, the properties of the period in which those thinkers wrote and live in and the effects of academic and environmental groups of which they have been members are discussed. Thus, it is tried to reveal how Hayek and Friedman’s thoughts became the prevailing thought of the period.