market-oriented policies associated with monetarism and neoliberal-
ism. Most countries made a priority of fighting inflation, even at the
cost of increasing unemployment, and practically every public policy
was reconsidered in order to reduce cost and enhance market flexi-
bility. The market logic was extended to almost every social under-
taking: even the state was to be “run like a business.”
In the international arena, the demands of the poorer countries for a
more equitable world were also displaced by strong calls for structural
adjustment policies and for trade and investment rules suitable for
an integrated global market. The affluent democracies reduced their
contributions for development assistance, but they nevertheless felt
justified in assessing the governments of the South for their good gov-
ernance. This stance conveniently ignored the fact that when a country
was poor, governance was also likely to be poor. “The problem,” noted
Jeffrey Sachs, was “not that poorly governed countries get too much
help, but that well-governed countries get far too little.”^94
Culturally, the triumph of market democracy also facilitated the
ascent of individualism. In a context where competitiveness became
an all-encompassing objective, indeed almost a value, personal success
was readily celebrated. Individual rights and identities became central
political concerns, and citizens increasingly looked to the courts to
adjudicate disputes. Conservatives were ambivalent about these trends,
some applauding any expression of individualism, others being more
concerned by the potential decline of traditional values. On the left,
reactions were mixed as well, the politics of rights and identity being
perceived as progress by some, and as a distraction from the search
for equality by others. In a sense, the lines appeared to be blurring. As
the left adjusted to a neoliberal world, the possibility of a new con-
figuration for the long-lasting debate between the left and the right
was increasingly evoked.
(^94) Jeffrey Sachs,The End of Poverty: How We Can Make It Happen in Our
Lifetime, Harmondsworth, Penguin, 2005, pp. 269 and 312.
The triumph of market democracy (1980–2007) 165