The Journal of Libertarian Studies

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The Political Economy of Monarchy and Democracy, and the Idea of a Natural Order

The Journal of Libertarian Studies

Tags U.S. EconomyPolitical TheoryProduction Theory

07/30/2014Hans-Hermann Hoppe

A government is a territorial monopolist of compulsion — an agency which may engage in continual, institutionalized property rights violations and the exploitation — in the form of expropriation, taxation and regulation — of private property owners. Assuming no more than self-interest on the part of government agents, all governments must be expected to make use of this monopoly and thus exhibiting a tendency toward increased exploitation. However, not every form of government can be expected to be equally successful in this endeavor or to go about it in the same way. Rather, in light of elementary economic theory, the conduct of government and the effects of government policy on civil society can be expected to be systematically different, depending on whether the government apparatus is owned privately or publicly.

Volume 11, Number 2 (1995)

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Contact Hans-Hermann Hoppe

Hans-Hermann Hoppe is an Austrian school economist and libertarian/anarcho-capitalist philosopher. He is the founder and president of The Property and Freedom Society.

Cite This Article

Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. "The Political Economy of Monarchy and Democracy, and the Idea of a Natural Order." Journal of Libertarian Studies 11, No. 2 (1995): 94–121.