Political Theory

The idea of American freedom does not date from the late 1780s; the Constitution was the culmination of generations of practical self-government.

In 1958, John Kenneth Galbraith assailed American spending patterns. Consumers, he told us in The Affluent Society, spend too much on such fripperies as large tailfins on cars. 

We are so used to celebrating the glories of the democratic state, we often forget its limitations. 

You may never have heard of them, but they battled against the main cause of state expansion in the 20th century. 

In 1940, Mises watched the rise of the total state and the destruction of Europe, and believed he had been "the historian of decline." But the designation doesn't apply to today's Misesians.

This year's political campaigns highlight at least one positive trend: the "best and brightest," who nearly wrecked us, are no longer wasting their talents serving the state. 

In the last several decades, step by step, the system has become Diocletianized.

Government has an influence over programming because of an age-old political decision to nationalize the airwaves. 

The nation state just isn't what it used to be--and it's a good thing too.

Gary Wills's new book condemns distrust of government, and then fails in an attempt to cloak statist bias in historical garb.