Political theory often imagines a crisp division between states and markets, obscuring the challenges posed by public-private governance. The central question of “pocketbook politics” – what are my tax dollars doing for me? – cannot be easily answered as publicly-funded activities are misrecognized as charity or private consumption. In contrast to classic theories of pluralism, many business interests must be recognized as endogenous to public policy domains. Over recent decades, turns to austerity politics and privatization have exacerbated the tensions between a political language of private interests and a governing landscape in which public and private are deeply entwined with important consequences for democratic representation and accountability.