Ideology, Crisis, and the Ratchet Effect: Retrospect and Prospects

Published by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.

This chapter explores the contributions of Higgs’ “ratchet effect” as discussed in his 1987 work, Crisis and Leviathan: Critical Episodes in the Growth of American Government. I discuss the various theories of government growth and situate the ratchet effect within this literature and provide a detailed overview of the framework. The chapter then discusses several critical misunderstandings of Higgs’ work—namely ideology and differences in scale versus scope. I then turn to applications of the framework in the years since its first introduction and discuss several avenues for future research. 

Find this chapter in The Legacy of Robert Higgs, available on Amazon.