Political and Methodological Individualism

Via Organizations and Markets,

....it is .... widely believed that methodological individualism — the chief explanatory principle of economics and rational-choice sociology and political science — implies or justifies political individualism .... “But people are social beings!” cry the critics.

Well, sure. Methodological individualism is simply the view that social phenomena should be explained, or understood, in terms of the values, beliefs, plans, and actions of the individual that make up the social whole.