The question of “government by consent” became for the first time an overriding concern of political and economic elites in Europe as they sought to reestablish the bases of their rule after the enormous disruptions of World War I. With what authority could reconstruction be undertaken after the great upsurge of labor unrest in 1918? On what foundations could old governing coalitions be reconstituted as the sheer numerical force of the left parties threw the exclusive liberal caucuses into disarray? With what incentives could workers be induced to cooperate in retooling for peacetime production now that factory councils and militant industrial unions pressed their demands for “democracy in the workplace”? Conservatives, liberals, and technocrats naturally differed in their proposed solutions, debating the merits of consultations and negotiated compromises with organized labor, more active appeals to build responsive voter blocks, or a radical operation of social engineering. But whatever the political perspective, it had become clear that, with the end of the war, the era of laissez-faire capitalism – of disorganized labor, rigid management hierarchies, long working hours, and restricted consumption – was closed.