Ordoliberalism as an Ideology: a conceptual Analysis

The Euro crisis prompted an extensive academic debate on the role of ordoliberalism, a German variant of neoliberalism, in the European crisis politics. This study contributes to the debate by reconstructing the ordoliberal ideology using Michael Freeden’s morphological approach. The ordoliberal ideology consists of a common core of political concepts (order, competition, freedom, power, state and Ordnungspolitik), differently interpreted by its various currents. The article, based on selected works of representative ordoliberal authors, compares different currents and generations of ordoliberals. For the first generation, Walter Eucken’s and Franz Böhm’s Freiburg School, Wilhelm Röpke’s sociological neoliberalism and Alfred Müller-Armack’s Social Market Economy; for the second generation, Erich Hoppmann; for the third generation, Viktor Vanberg.