Should governments save people from themselves? Do governments have
the right to influence citizens' behavior related to smoking tobacco,
eating too much, not saving enough, drinking alcohol, or taking
marijuana—or does this create a nanny state, leading to
infantilization, demotivation, and breaches in individual autonomy?
Looking at examples from both sides of the Atlantic and around the
world, Government Paternalism examines the justifications for, and the
prevalence of, government involvement and considers when intervention
might or might not be acceptable. Building on developments in
philosophy, behavioral economics, and psychology, Julian Le Grand and
Bill New explore the roles, boundaries, and responsibilities of the
government and its citizens. Le Grand and New investigate specific
policy areas, including smoking, saving for pensions, and assisted
suicide. They discuss legal restrictions on risky behavior, taxation
of harmful activities, and subsidies for beneficial activities. And
they pay particular attention to "nudge" or libertarian paternalist
proposals that try to change the context in which individuals make
decisions so that they make the right ones. Le Grand and New argue
that individuals often display "reasoning failure": an inability to
achieve the ends that they set themselves. Such instances are ideal
for paternalistic interventions—for though such interventions might
impinge on autonomy, the impact can be outweighed by an improvement in
well-being. Government Paternalism rigorously considers whether the
state should guide citizen decision making in positive ways and if so,
how this should be achieved.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781400866298
Publisert
2015
Utgiver
Vendor
Princeton University Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter