Political Theory

Paternalism

ABSTRACT

This conference explored the case for paternalistic restrictions on individual liberty based on research in psychology and behavioral economics, examining how findings regarding individuals' cognitive and motivational limitations inform the case for "libertarian" paternalism, as well as the case for more traditional forms of coercive, or "hard" paternalism.

READING LIST

Conference Readings

Bubb, Ryan and Richard H. Pildes. “How Behavioral Economics Trims its Sails and Why.” Harvard Law Review 127 (2014): 1593-1678.

Conly, Sarah. Against Autonomy: Justifying Coercive Paternalism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Rizzo, Mario J. and Douglas Glen Whitman. “Little Brother is Watching You: New Paternalism on the Slippery Slopes.” Arizona Law Review 51, no. 3 (2009): 685-739.

Tasic, Slavisa. “Are Regulators Rational?” Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines 17, no. 1 (2011): 1-19.

Thaler, Richard H. and Cass R. Sunstein. Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness. New York: Penguin Books, 2008.