Boucoyannis

Deborah A. Boucoyannis

Professorial Lecturer, George Washington University
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About Deborah

Boucoyannis works on the historical foundations of liberalism and democracy; with a special focus on the origins of European political institutions. Her work sheds light on the role of the state; taxation; inequality and of judicial structures in the creation of liberal; constitutional orders. She also works on the theoretical foundations of liberalism; offering in particular a reconsideration of assumptions about inequality.

In the News

Opinion: "The Myth of the Bloated Greek State," Deborah A. Boucoyannis, Foreign Affairs, August 6, 2015.
Opinion: "Taxing the Rich Leads to Representative Government. Happy 800th Birthday, Magna Carta!," Deborah A. Boucoyannis, The Washington Post, June 15, 2015.
Opinion: "Can Taxing the Wealthy Strengthen Democracy?," Deborah A. Boucoyannis, Monkey Cage, The Washington Post, August 18, 2014.
Opinion: "Adam Smith is Not the Antidote to Thomas Piketty," Deborah A. Boucoyannis, Monkey Cage, The Washington Post, April 22, 2014.
Opinion: "Correcting Market Inequality," Deborah A. Boucoyannis, Policy Network, April 8, 2014.
Opinion: "Contrary to Popular and Academic Belief, Adam Smith Did Not Accept Inequality as a Necessary Trade-Off for a More Prosperous Economy," Deborah A. Boucoyannis, British Politics and Policy, London School of Economics Blog, February 18, 2014.

Publications

The Eumenes Paradox: Fiscal Ties and the Origins of Representative Government, University of Virginia 2014-05-31.
Shows the role of high rates of taxation on the top income groups in consolidating parliamentary institutions in early English history.
"The Equalization of Wealth in the Market Economy: What Adam Smith Expected from the 'System of Natural Liberty'" Perspectives on Politics 11, no. 4 (December 2013): 1051-1070.
Challenges the conventional assumption that classical liberalism (and, by implication, the market economy) necessarily imply high levels of inequality as a trade-off for greater prosperity for all; shows how more equal distributions of wealth should be expected if Smith’s system was properly applied.
"The Balance of Power: The International Wanderings of a Liberal Idea" Perspectives on Politics 57, no. 4 (2007): 703-727.

Questions the widespread association of the idea of a balance of power with realist and conservative approaches to international relations and world affairs. Recommends a more “realist” understanding of liberalism, consonant with the foundations of the liberal political order, especially as exemplified in the Federalist Papers.