This book represents a
considerable revision and expansion of Public Choice II (1989). Six new chapters have been
added, and several chapters from the previous edition have been extensively revised. The
discussion of empirical work in public choice has been greatly expanded. As in the
previous editions, all of the major topics of public choice are covered. These include:
why the state exists, voting rules, federalism, the theory of clubs, two-party and
multiparty electoral systems, rent seeking, bureaucracy, interest groups, dictatorship,
the size of government, voter participation, and political business cycles. Normative
issues in public choice are also examined including a normative analysis of the simple
majority rule, Bergson-Samuelson social welfare functions, the Arrow and Sen impossibility
theorems, Rawls's social contract theory and the constitutional political economy of
Buchanan and Tullock.
"Like all the others,
this volume will become the first point of reference - the 'bible' - for all scholars
in the field, both the experts and the more casual samplers. It represents an amazing
effort, even more extraordinary than the earlier versions. The profession is deeply in
Mueller's debt."
Geoffrey Brennan, Australian National University
"This is a granddaddy
of a book! Or rather a grand-son of one. For over a quarter of a century, Mueller has been
providing us with successive surveys of the field of public choice, with each version more
extensive, detailed and impressive than its predecessor. This is the third book in that
series. And almost certainly the final one. No one could reasonably be expected to master
the field in quite this masterful way ever again. The original 1979 book ran to almost
three hundred spaciously typed pages. The 1989 successor extended to more than five
hundred and was rather more densely spaced. The current version is over seven hundred, and
includes almost seventy pages of references. Compiling such a survey - single-handedly -
is a gargantuan effort, and has been accomplished here with amazing completeness and
elegance."
Russell Hardin, Stanford University
"Dennis Mueller's book
is certainly the most comprehensive and elegantly presented discourse on nearly a half
century of research on public choice and ought to be required reading for any student of
political science, if not social science generally. The material covered is virtually
exhaustive of the field, and no one who wishes to understand this important subfield of
social science should avoid consuming all that is offered here - offered in easily
digestible and entertaining form while benefiting from the insights of one of the key
contributors to the field."
Peter Ordeshook, California Institute of Technology
"As a teacher of public
choice I have found Mueller's works invaluable. He is not only an original scholar but he
succeeds in putting the existing knowledge into a form that makes it easy for students to
follow. In addition to summarizing the existing knowledge, he always puts into them a
number of new points with the results that teacher like myself finds a book interesting as
a contribution to knowledge as well as a summary of previous knowledge. Public Choice III
continues the tradition and will be invaluable as a text while the same time contributing
to the knowledge of the teacher."
Gordon Tullock, George Mason University
"Mueller's Public
Choice III is a colossal achievement. Anyone curious about what public choice
scholars have to say about myriad subjects in political economy can find the answers here,
but even members of the public choice fraternity will find much that is new and insightful
in this compilation."
Morris P. Fiorina, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
"Dennis Mueller's Public
Choice III is a wonderful preservation and extension of his earlier two volumes on
the subject. It can truly be called a magnum opus. To anyone who thinks that the public
choice revolution has lost the wind in its sails, read this book to see where we have been
and where we are going. For others the book will be a priceless addition to their
bookshelves and reading lists as a reference volume and textbook."
Robert D. Tollison, University of Mississippi
"Like its rightly
acclaimed two predecessors, Public Choice III is an excellent survey of the
field. I know of no other book on the subject that informs about the extensively grown
public choice literature as comprehensively and competently as Dennis Mueller's updated
and expanded treatise does. It is an indispensable reference source for anyone interested
in modern political economy, accessible to newcomers as well as highly instructive to
experts in the field."
Viktor Vanberg, University of Freiburg, Germany
"The book touches on
almost every major area of public choice theory ... I would strongly recommend the book to
economists and political scientists who specialize in the rational choice approach to
politics. It discusses and contains references to most of the major issues. Moreover, it
does so in a way that is very intellectually stimulating. I cannot recommend it to these
readers strongly enough ... I would recommend Public Choice III to anyone who
wants to find out more about public choice theory. It is the best and most extensive
survey of the literature that I have read ... Public Choice III is an excellent
book and is strongly recommended."
International Journal of Social Economics
768 pages