THE MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS - THE RHETORIC AND POLITICS OF TAX-REFORM INSWEDEN AND THE UNITED-STATES

The role of ideas in the policy process can be understood by treating the circulation of ideas as a market operating, like other markets, wi thin broad regulatory processes that shape production, valuation, exch ange, and consumer satisfaction. Four regulatory mechanisms - electora l and party systems, campaign finance practices, interest group system s, and mass media - exist in varying configurations in all liberal dem ocracies and influence the rhetoric used in political debates. The cas es of tax reform in Sweden and the United States show that loosely reg ulated idea markets may yield policies that are more uneven, less cons istent with the rhetorical claims made for them, and less strongly sup ported by the public than is the case with tightly regulated idea mark ets.