Political Theory

In this outstanding book, Jeremy Shearmur approaches the thought of Friedrich Hayek from an original angle. 

Unless you agree with Emerson that a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds, you will find little in this ill- thought-out book to like.

The most encouraging trend of our time is the widespread loss of faith in government. No longer do people look to the government as the great problem solver, economic planner, social unifier, or cultural czar. The government is more likely to be seen for what it is, a haven for grafters, liars, and would-be tyrants. Americans, like the Russians, no longer believe anything until it is officially denied.

Elizabeth Fox-Genovese has had an idea brilliant in its simplicity and common sense. Feminism arouses furious passions, as supporters and opponents incessantly battle one another.

Washington's sudden fixation on campaign finance won't bring about honesty in government, and it won't increase anyone's liberty. But it does give the public a real-world civics lesson. For it shows that government is no neutral arbiter of justice, but a corrupt scheme by which the politically powerful enrich themselves at the expense of everyone else.

Before the mid 1950s, there was no "retirement" as we use the term today. A 1950 poll showed most workers aspired to work for as long as possible. Quitting was for the disabled. Life did not offer "twilight years," two decades of uninterrupted leisure courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer.

Which is a greater cause of cultural and moral decline: the private sector or the government? Asked another way, which is doing more to promote a return to civilized social norms: the market or the central state? The answer highlights a dividing line between left and right.

The intellectual historian Isaiah Berlin has achieved great renown for essays that range from the analysis of liberty to memoirs of Russian poets.

Anthony de Jasay's short book contains more good sense about political theory than many treatises of enormously greater length.

David Conway stands in resolute opposition to most contemporary Anglo-American political philosophers.