Cognitive dissonance is defined as the psychological discomfort or annoyance that may exist when an individual's choice is not consistent with his values and beliefs. Dissonance may cause an individual to reconsider his values and beliefs, enter new choices with different parameters, respond to...

In this classic introductory public choice text, Gordon Tullock analyses the motives and activities of politicians, civil servants and voters. Government 'servants' can most likely be assumed to be pursuing their own interests, just like those in the private sector, although, given the coercive...

There have been governments which are between democracy and despotism. The article starts with a discussion of governments where voting is used, but not everyone can vote. This runs from the United States before 1960 to Venice. Undemocratic governments are sometimes simple despotisms, but in...

In this paper, we analyze the sustainability of Italian public finances using a unique database covering the period 1862-2013. This paper focuses on empirical tests for the sustainability and solvency of fiscal policies. A necessary but (Not sufficient condition implies that the growth rate of...

This paper demonstrates that Gordon Tullock's articles on rent seeking continue to be cited, often far more frequently than the papers which journals chose to publish when they rejected Tullock's submissions

In practice it is impossible to distinguish between advertising that is intended to be persuasive and advertising that is intended to be informative. Persuasive advertising normally has information content and even basic information provided by a company about its products will normally be...

In practice it is impossible to distinguish between advertising that is intended to be persuasive and advertising that is intended to be informative. Persuasive advertising normally has information content and even basic information provided by a company about its products will normally be...