ABSTRACT
At the intersection between the public and private spheres, the notion of competitiveness policy epitomizes the structural transformations of the American model of capitalism over the past few decades. It can be broadly defined as the set of policy tools used by local, state and federal governments to promote, sustain or restore US economic leadership in an increasingly competitive and global economy. From a cultural perspective, this concept lies at the crossroads between two ideological traditions: (1) the Hamiltonian tradition that favors the pursuit of a national economic strategy; (2) the Jeffersonian ideal of a “wise and frugal government,” a form of “market-preserving federalism” that confines government intervention to the protection of free enterprise and property rights (Weingast, 1995).
