May 21, 2014
The Containment Conundrum
I think the strongest argument for limited government is given by public choice economics: well-organized (and often well-funded) concentrated interests will tend to capture political power at the expense of…
All posts in: Democracy
April 29, 2014
On Ukraine
As expected, libertarians are divided over Ukraine. I don’t know if the Western sanctions currently planned against Russia are indicated or effective. But I emphatically reject the notion that Ukraine…
April 16, 2014
The Duty to Lie to Stupid Voters
I’m writing a paper for an edited anthology on political ethics. I haven’t started writing it yet; I’ve just written an abstract for their proposal. But the paper will defend…
April 10, 2014
The Government Is Not Us (Democratic Theory Edition)
Jason has correctly complained about claims that we are the government. He cites a ridiculous Salon article, but here’s a nice example from President Obama himself: You hear some of…
April 07, 2014
Democratic Governments Can’t Oppress Us Because the Government Is Us!
(Meme by Matt Zwolinski) I know Salon only employs fools and knaves, but I did not expect to see them publish something as silly as this: Rand Paul’s brand of…
April 04, 2014
Political Science and the Obvious
Robert Wenzel expresses incredulity at my recent post on campaign expenditures. (He doesn’t indicate whether he read any of the papers I linked to.) Wenzel writes: Aside from the question of…