In 1965 James M. Buchanan launched a center dedicated to his theories at the University of Virginia, which later relocated to George Mason University.

Nancy MacLean describes how he trained thinkers to push back against the Brown v. Board of Education decision to desegregate America’s public schools and to challenge the constitutional perspectives and federal policy that enabled it.

She notes that he took care to use economic and political precepts, rather than overtly racial arguments, to make his case, which nonetheless gave cover to racists who knew that spelling out their prejudices would alienate the country.

All the while, a ghost hovered in the background — that of John C. #Calhoun of South Carolina, senator and seventh vice president of the United States.

Calhoun was an intellectual and political powerhouse in the South from the 1820s until his death in 1850, expending his formidable energy to defend slavery. Calhoun, called the “#Marx of the #Master #Class” by historian Richard Hofstadter, saw himself and his fellow southern oligarchs as victims of the majority.

Therefore, as MacLean explains, he sought to create “#constitutional #gadgets” to constrict the operations of government.

Economists Tyler #Cowen and Alexander #Tabarrok, both of George Mason University, have noted the two men’s affinities, heralding Calhoun “a precursor of modern #public #choice theory” who “anticipates” Buchanan’s thinking.

MacLean observes that both focused on how #democracy constrains property owners and aimed for ways to restrict the latitude of voters.

She argues that unlike even the most property-friendly founders Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, Buchanan wanted a private governing #elite of #corporate #power that was wholly released from public accountability.

Suppressing voting, changing legislative processes so that a normal majority could no longer prevail, sowing public distrust of government institutions— all these were tactics toward the goal.

But the Holy Grail was the #Constitution: alter it and you could increase and secure the power of the wealthy in a way that no politician could ever challenge.

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/533763/democracy-in-chains-by-nancy-maclean/9781101980972/