Journal of Libertarian Studies

Political Unification: A Generalized Progression Theorem

The Journal of Libertarian Studies
Downloads

A characteristic feature of modern civilization is the steady growth of government.1 This government growth occurs under two forms: either through a more intense taxation of its present subjects, or through bringing more people under its control. In other terms, government growth can either be an “intensification” or an “extensification” of hegemony. Since government growth means that private-property rights have been more invaded than before, the fundamental problem of bringing more persons under government control is that some persons are likely to resist. Yet, which factors determine this resistance? Why is it that a government sometimes can extend its dominance over people who live in other territories, whereas in other cases it cannot? And why does each extension of power go hand in hand with an increase of taxes?

Volume 13, Number 1 (1997)

CITE THIS ARTICLE

Hülsmann, Jörg Guido. “Political Unification: A Generalized Progression Theorem.” Journal of Libertarian Studies 13, No. 1 (1997): 81–96.

All Rights Reserved ©
What is the Mises Institute?

The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard. 

Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.

Become a Member
Mises Institute