The rhetoric of reaction: perversity, futility, jeopardy

Two hundred years of reactionary rhetoric

Three reactions and three reactionary theses

A note on the term "reaction"

The perversity thesis

The French revolution and proclamation of the perverse effect

Universal suffrage and its alleged perverse effects

The poor laws and the Welfare state

Reflections on the perversity thesis

The futility thesis

Questioning the extent of change wrought by the French revolution: Tocqueville

Questioning the extent of change likely to follow from universal suffrage: Mosca and Pareto

Questioning the extent to which the Welfare State "Delivers the goods" to the poor

Reflections on the futulity thesis

The jeopardy thesis

Democracy as a threat to liberty

The Welfare state as a threat to liberty and democracy

Reflections on the jeopardy thesis

The three theses compared and combined

A synoptic table

The comparative influence of the theses

Some simple interactions

A more complex interaction

From reactionary to progressive rhetoric

The synergy illusion and the imminent-danger thesis

"Having history on one's side"

Counterparts of the perversity thesis

Beyond intransigence

A turnabout in argument?

How Not to argue in a democracy.