“The British constitution is a state of mind,” says Peter Hennessy, a historian who calls this the “good chap” theory of government. “It requires a sense of restraint all round to make it work.”
— The Economist, in ‘Britain’s good-chap model of government is coming apart’
People will oppose policies that benefit themselves and their community if they think it will lower their within-group status.
In other words, even when a policy might make someone materially better off (by, say, improving their housing conditions), they are likely to oppose it if the government doing so for everyone in their community would harm their relative status position.
—Gwyneth McClendon quoted in the Washington Post: ‘Envy and status in politics‘
Continue reading Envy and status in politics
Modi’s faith lies in the heavy hand of a strong state, rather than in the invisible hand of the markets.
Narendra Modi: The man who would purify India, January 11, 2017 at 04:56PM
Use my marker 