ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the question of equilibrium between liberalism and illiberalism within firms. It also discusses the empirical results that lead people to challenge the assumption of interdepartmental differentiation. The distinction between liberal and illiberal firms is not only a managerial but, maybe more importantly, a political issue. An illiberal order at the organizational level may generate a demand for an illiberal order in the polity sphere. It may also cushion hardships that a liberal society imposes on individuals. Civic republicans, liberals and libertarians arrive at different solutions on this issue. Without the participants' awareness of the distinctions between liberal and illiberal modes of social order, the dilemma can barely be regulated in an intentional way. The point of liberalism, by contrast, is to protect the political and public from the economic sphere, rather than hold the economic sphere accountable for moral or public issues.
