The Privatization of Democracy

Abstract

What is the overall picture of democracy suggested by this study of privatization in Britain since 1979? The concept of privatized democracy, developed in this chapter, provides an answer. This depicts how neoliberal changes in policy-making recast the nature of democracy by changing its operative forms of power relations. Examining the different ways the elements of power combine brings out the contrast between collectivist pluralism and privatized democracy. More specifically, privatized democracy involves government officials redesigning the state; while retaining formal power of authorization, supervision, and coercion, core state officials introduce indirect control through market-led policy-making processes. Privatized democracy, moreover, changes the structure of power. It diminishes individual and group freedom on which democracy depends. The market decision-making processes enable the state to disengage from and sidestep direct involvement and, at the same time, to institute a method of control that is more efficient and autonomous than administrative edict or political bargaining. Paradoxically, the freedom of choice offered by markets diminishes the self-controls associated with democratic ideals.