Competitive Governments, explores in a systematic way the hypothesis that governments are internally competitive, that they are competitive in their relations with each other and in their relations with other institutions in society which, like them, supply consuming households with goods and services. Breton contends that competition not only serves to bring the political system to an equilibrium, but it also leads to a revelation of the households' true demand functions for publicly provided goods and services and to the molding of a link between the quantities and the qualities demanded and supplied and the tax prices paid for these goods and services. In the real world where information is costly, the links may not be first-best, but they will be efficient if competition is vigorous.

"Breton traverses an impressive array of disciplines and scholars....an optimistic look at the possibility of efficient solutions within the context of current democratic political structures." Choice
"...the author is careful and thorough in laying out his arguments, and he challenges the reader to think about topics such as fiscal federalism and intragovernmental competition in a new light. The text is rich with ideas, full of thought provoking discussions and well informed by past work in the field." Thomas J. Nechyba, Journal of Economic Literature
"...the book makes interesting and stimulating reading and is likely to be influential in shaping research in the future." Thomas J. Nechyba, Journal od Economic Literature
"This book presents many useful insights....everyone should appreciate the novel arguments presented in this book." Donald Wittman, Southern Economic Journal