1987 Constructing Institutions ences than the usual left-right,liberal- of dichotomous instead of triangular conservative dimensions.A second test is designations of political cultures.The both contemporary and future-oriented;I most infamous of these is left versus right. claim that perception of danger and dis- Left,or liberal,presumably designates a position toward risk-from technology tendency toward greater use of central and from acquired immune deficiency government for policy purposes,includ- syndrome-are better explained and pre- ing an inclination to welfare state dicted by cultural theory than by compet- measures designed to be at least some- ing theories. what redistributive.Presumably,right,or conservative,signifies a disposition against central governmental intervention in the economy but of greater respect for A Confusion of Cultures: collective authority.As political short- Competitive Individualism versus hand,these terms have their uses.But for Egalitarian Collectivism purposes of political analysis,they obfus- cate more than they clarify.The prefer- The single worst misunderstanding ence for greater use of government may about U.S.politics,in my opinion,is the stem from a hierarchical culture in which joining together as a single entity,called the individual is subordinated to the "individualism,"two separate and distinct group.Yet the very same preference for political cultures with opposing prefer- central governmental action may be ences for policies and institutions-com- rooted in a desire to reduce all social dis- petitive individualism and egalitarian col- tinction,including those on which hierar- lectivism.Between equality of oppor- chies are based.Hierarchies and egali- tunity (enabling individuals to accentuate tarian collectives may,in certain his- their differences)and equality of results torical contexts,ally themselves in favor (enabling them to diminish their differ- of redistributive measures,yet they ences),there is a vast gulf.To say that may also,at the same time,be bitter equal opportunity is empty without more opponents in regard to respect for author- equal results is to say that the latter is ity.For equalization of statuses would more important than the former. destroy hierarchy.It is not easy,as the Individualistic cultures prefer minimum Catholic Church is learning,to say that authority,just enough to maintain rules all forms of inequality are bad but that for transactions,but they do not reject all popes and bishops are good (Wildavsky authority;if it leaves them alone,they 1985a). will leave it alone.While egalitarians also The left-right distinction is beset with like to live a life of minimal prescription, contradictions.Hierarchical cultures they are part and parcel of collectives in favor social conservatism,giving govern- which,so long as they remain members, ment the right to intervene in matters of individuals are bound by group decisions. personal morality.Thus egalitarians may This critical distinction in group- support intervention in the economy to boundedness,the freedom to transact for reduce economic differences but not inter- yourself with any consenting adult vis-a- vention in social life to maintain inequal- vis the requirement of agreement with ity.Libertarians,who are competitive group decisions,makes for a radical dif- individualists,oppose both social and ference in the formation of political economic intervention. preferences. A division of the world into left and The confusion to which I am objecting right that is equally inapplicable to the manifests itself more generally in the use past and to the present deserves to be dis- 11