The Rise and Fall of Discipline: Economic Globalization, Administrative Reform, and the Financial Crisis

Th roughout the era of economic liberalization (1978–2007), a signifi cant amount of governmental power was transferred to technocratguardians who were carefully buff ered from elected offi cials. Democratic processes, it was said, had to be disciplined through such reforms if nations were to thrive in a globalized economy. Th is way of thinking about reform was already under assault before the fi nancial crisis, and it was even more widely questioned during the crisis, as critics doubted the quality of technocratic decision making. Th is mode of reform— characterized as a “logic of discipline”—will survive the crisis, but it is unlikely to have the infl uence that it enjoyed during the era of liberalization.