Federal Farmer: Amendments are Essential and Necessary
By: TJ Martinell In his sixth letter dated Dec. 25, 1787, the Federal Farmer wrote of the “essential and necessary” inclusion of meaningful amendments to the Constitution prior to its ratification. Though ...
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The ideas that formed the Constitution, the pioneers: Socrates, Xenophon, Plato
By: Rob Natelson This is the fourth in a series of essays on the ideas behind the Constitution. You can find the first two essays here, here, and here As explained in the second ...
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Resistance is Crucial to the Advancement of Liberty
By: Mike Maharrey Patrick Henry told us that “government is no more than a choice among evils.” Thomas Paine held the same view. In Common Sense, he wrote, “Society in every state ...
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Dangers of Democracy
by ThinkingWest The word “democracy” appears exactly zero times in the United States Constitution. And yet, no form of government is celebrated with the same fervency as democracy. Recently, the phrase ...
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The Iron Law of Kleptocracy
Locke vs. Oppenheimer: Two Origin Stories of the State by Dan Sanchez To develop his theory of government, John Locke posited an origin story of the state. He explained legitimate ...
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Frédéric Bastiat’s Fruitful Fusionism
by Nathan Smith Around the beginning of the 19th century, per capita economic growth turned decisively positive, and Western nations began prospering as never before. Economists have many theories to ...
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The Deadly Sins of Politics
Ideologies shaped in iniquity by Axel Weber and Dan Sanchez The nineteenth-century philosopher Joseph de Maistre once wrote “Every nation gets the government it deserves.” This is true in a ...
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The Three Traits of Tyranny
According to John Locke and the American Founders by Dan Sanchez The American founders who drafted and signed the Declaration of Independence grounded their case for separating from Great Britain ...
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The Descent into Tyranny
by Daniel Klein & Michael C. Munger When you lean over in a canoe on a river, the boat tilts but then rights itself. But if there is too much pressure on ...
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The Most Dangerous Man in the World: Menace to Tyrants, Liberator of Generations
By: Dan Sanchez In 1683, the most dangerous man in the world escaped from England to the Netherlands. He didn’t look very formidable. He was 51 years old, lanky, and asthmatic. ...
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