I don’t think it’s useful to talk about ‘conflict theory’, i.e. as a general theory of disagreement. It’s more useful in a form like ‘Marxism is a conflict theory’.
And then a ‘conflict theorist’ is someone who, in some context, believes a conflict theory, but not that disagreements generally are due to conflict (let alone in all contexts).
So, from the perspective of a ‘working class versus capital class’ conflict theory, public choice theory is obviously a weapon used by the capital class against the working class. But other possible conflict theories might be neutral about public choice theory.
Maybe what makes ‘conflict theory’ seem like a single thing is the prevalence of Marxism-like political philosophies.
I don’t think it’s useful to talk about ‘conflict theory’, i.e. as a general theory of disagreement. It’s more useful in a form like ‘Marxism is a conflict theory’.
And then a ‘conflict theorist’ is someone who, in some context, believes a conflict theory, but not that disagreements generally are due to conflict (let alone in all contexts).
So, from the perspective of a ‘working class versus capital class’ conflict theory, public choice theory is obviously a weapon used by the capital class against the working class. But other possible conflict theories might be neutral about public choice theory.
Maybe what makes ‘conflict theory’ seem like a single thing is the prevalence of Marxism-like political philosophies.