This book examines the complex relationships between social capital, markets and democracy. It argues that participation in markets positively enriches and enhances the stock of social capital, while, conversely, democratic politics may undermine it by facilitating divisive rent-seeking by special interest groups.

John Meadowcroft is head of the department of political economy and senior lecturer in public policy at King's College London. He previously taught on the Hansard Scholars Programme at the London School of Economics and Political Science and in the department of politics at Queen Mary, University of London. He is book review editor of the journal Economic Affairs and serves on the Academic Advisory Council of the Institute of Economic Affairs. Mark Pennington is a professor of public policy and political science at King's College, University of London. Peter J. Boettke is a professor of economics and philosophy at George Mason University (GMU) and, at the Mercatus Center at GMU, he is the BB&T Professor for the study of capitalism, vice president for research, and director of the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. He serves as editor of GMU's Review of Austrian Economics.