ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the epistemic burdens of effective liberalism are of two basic kinds. First, there are those epistemic burdens that, starting from a relatively illiberal context, would-be liberalizing policymakers must overcome in order to realize an effective liberal order. Second, there are those epistemic burdens that policymakers within liberal orders must overcome in order to maintain the effectiveness of the existing order. The chapter suggests that the long-term effectiveness of a liberal order hinges on policymakers acquiring the know-how necessary to maintain in perpetuity the rule of law, one of the fundamental institutional conditions of an effective liberal order. Where liberalization is the relevant goal of policy action, unless they are to rely on spontaneous forces, policymakers must possess knowledge of means adequate to deliberately realize an effective liberal order. The full generality of the problem of policymaker ignorance represents both opportunity and discomfiture for the Austrian School.
