In this short classic, Nobel-Prize-winning Austrian economist, F. A. Hayek, explains why the political institutions in the Western world necessarily produce a progressive expansion of governmental control of economic life even if the majority of people wish to preserve a market economy. In particular, Hayek focuses on the implications of unlimited majority rule and the role of special interest groups. The author also examines how democratic institutions might be reformed to make them less destructive of economic freedom. This short pamplet, first published in 1973 and now available for the first time in pdf format, is a useful introduction to F. A. Hayek's thinking on political institutions, which he developed in more detail in Law, Legislation and Liberty.