Toward a Theory of Governance. The Action of Norms

Abstract

For more than a century Western democracies have struggled to keep faith with both economic efficiency and social justice.Yet reconciliation of these factors remains as baffling as ever. Among the many voices clamoring today for theory of collective action, we hear most often of the great chasm between "legitimacy" and "efficiency". it is the contention of the authors of thisground-breaking book that these antinimies can be seen as distinct "moments of application" in the operation of normative judgement, and that a reflexive treatment of norms of collective action, by clarifying limitations in rules and in beleifs, allows us to develop mechanisms to correct the limiting effects of such judgements and act accordingly.\nDrawing on and developing recent trends in social sciences, "The Action of Norms" presents a powerful new theory of governance with far-reching implications of the future of law, the judiciary and justice itself. Among the contributing modern ideas that are explained and developed as pillars of the authors' thesis are the following: -critiques of the "political theory of interest groups";\n-the economic theory of efficiency;\n-deliberative democracy;\n-rational choice theory;\n-the evolutionist debate;\n-learning process theory; and \n-the theory of risk