Depoliticization and the continuity of neoliberal policies

Political economists have explained the resilience of neoliberal economic policies in the decade between the Great Financial Crisis (GFC) and the Covid-19 pandemic by referring to the political dominance of neoliberal ideas and interests. I argue that an additional factor supporting neoliberal policies, even when the political power of neoliberal ideas and interests was weakened, has been the depoliticization of economic policymaking. The discursive dominance of ideas highlighting the harmful economic consequences of democratic decision-making, and pre-crisis institutional restructuring guided by these ideas, have restrained the willingness and ability of powerful non-neoliberal actors to change neoliberal policies. This argument is demonstrated through process-tracing of case studies in Sweden (2014–2018) and Israel (2011–2019), in which neoliberal policies were challenged. The conclusions highlight that depoliticization has supported not only the rise of neoliberalism but also its preservation, and suggest that recent populist challenges to depoliticization support the adoption of counter-neoliberal policies.