Market economy and democratic polity

Abstract

This essay focuses on the relationship of the market to democracy and therefore to civil society. It problematizes the assumption of much of current work on this issue, that there is a congruence between a market economy and a democratic polity. It does this by setting out the case for and against the above proposition ‐ that there is a correlation between market economy and political democracy ‐ and concludes that the market is at once supportive and undermining of democracy. It concludes that the important issue is how to regulate, contain and supplement market forces so that the necessary civility of social relations in a democratic polity can be protected and enhanced, rather than to argue about whether the market should or should not be placed within the ambit of civil society.