Economic Analysis Of The Constitutional Thought

James McGill Buchanan is a master of the public choice theory and constitutionaleconomic founder, He won the1986Nobel Prize due to use economics analysis methods tothe study of the political process. Economic focus on the problem of personal choice in theprivate sphere before Buchanan, but Buchanan thinks that economists should have a socialand moral responsibility, His own research focus on the choice of the individuals in thepolitical sphere. Facing the bankruptcy of the welfare state and the government’s failure in the1960s and1970s, Buchanan believes that only through a constitutional reform in order to getrid of the status of American society, and to achieve long-term prosperity.Individualism and contractualism is assumed to be the logical basis of the theory ofBuchanan constitutional theory, it elaborate the core of the Buchanan constitutional theorypoint of view in terms of the form and level of constitutional rule, democratic constitutionalconstraints, fiscal system constitutional constraints. The theory use the personal sense as anonly collective choice units from the methodology of individualism. Because the individual isrational, so always pursue the maximization of their own utility. Buchanan use cost analysismethod to introduce the concept of interdependence costs to distinguish the boundaries ofgroup activities and private activities, and pointed out that the scope and limits of collectiveactivity by the analysis the behavior of social activities. Contractualism is the logical startingpoint of the basis of the government’s legitimacy and Buchanan’s constitutional theory.Buchanan inherits and continues the contract theory of Hobbes. Although people get out ofthe jungle state of barbarism, suspicion and danger through the formation of the governmentto establish the country, but Buchanan born with a kind of distrust of the government, fears ofexcessive expansion of government power and lead to the Leviathan monster. He believes thatthe only contract reached under the veil of uncertainty to be able to achieve the fair contract.The biggest bright spot of the Buchanan’s constitutional theory is the cost analysis of theconstitutional rules. Buchanan focus on exploring what constitutionalists rules to achieve aminimum of social interdependence costs, unanimity rule is the ideal form of rules, But it isdifficult to effective implement, super-majority rule will result in the discrimination of themajority over the minority, the optimal alternative universality rules as unanimity rules alsofacing difficulties of the criterion. Buchanan divide the constitutional rules to theconstitutionality level and implementation level, he creates the conditions for the realization of the constitutional reform. He placed constituent before the democratic, he thinks that it willachieve the true democracy by the democracy in the Constituent constraints. Buchanan inheritthe Wicksell’s financial theory, advocated the financial system in the Constitution constraintby a competitive fiscal federalism to limit the Government’s financial powers. Buchanan’sconstitutional theory is a utopia, But his constitutional theory to study from the perspective ofeconomics for our constitutional opens a new idea, and his theory will have far-reachingimpact on future.