All Posts Tagged With: "central government"

Somalia: Failed State, Economic Success?

By most measures Somalia has improved living standards faster than the average sub-Saharan African country since the government of Siad Barre collapsed in the early 1990s.

1Apr2009 | Benjamin Powell | 42 comments | Continued

The European Union and the Interventionist State

According to a public-opinion survey released in January, almost nine out of every ten citizens of European Union (EU) member nations know either little or nothing of the draft constitution for Europe, which would further centralize political power and control over their lives. Yet in spite of this pervasive ignorance, 49 percent said they favor [...]

1Mar2005 | Richard M. Ebeling | 1 comment | Continued

Designing Dependence

Government now permeates American life, shaping and determining in countless ways the choices available to us. As Tocqueville feared, the U.S. government has largely succeeded in its efforts to spare us “all the care of thinking and all the trouble of living.” Through Social Security, Medicare, public education, and the rest, the sphere of autonomous [...]

1May2002 | Charlotte A. Twight | 1 comment | Continued

Why America Gets Fleeced

One of the occasional features on NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw is “The Fleecing of America,” a series of segments exposing cases of waste and fraud that victimize individuals or the general public. Some of the examples are swindles or scams by private companies or individuals, and the obvious solution is to exercise more [...]

1Feb2002 | Melvin D. Barger | 0 comments | Continued

Constitutional Intentions

A question frequently arises in disputes about how to interpret the U.S. Constitution: What was the intention of those who framed the document? This question contains an invalid assumption. It assumes that those who drafted the Constitution at the 1787 convention and those involved in the subsequent debates were of one mind and intent. In [...]

1Jun2000 | Wendy McElroy | 2 comments | Continued

The Arc of the Pendulum: A Philosophy for Government in the 21st Century

In The Arc of the Pendulum, Charles Stewart Goodwin advocates moving government power from the national to the local level and narrowing the scope of government at all levels. He calls this philosophy antifederalism, after the philosophy of those who opposed ratification of the U.S. Constitution on grounds that the central government would be too [...]

1Oct1998 | Randall G. Holcombe | 1 comment | Continued

A Peaceful Ferment in Somalia

Spencer MacCallum is a social anthropologist living in Tonopah, Nevada, where he directs the Heather Foundation. He is the author of numerous articles on classical liberalism and of The Art of Community, published by the Institute for Humane Studies. A social experiment with far-reaching implications for human freedom is shaping up in Somalia. I had [...]

1Jun1998 | Spencer Heath MacCallum | 0 comments | Continued

James Madison-Checks and Balances to Limit Government Power

James Madison didn’t originate the idea of checks and balances for limiting government power, but he helped push it farther than anyone else before or since. Previous political thinkers, citing British experience, had talked about checks and balances with a monarch in the mix, but Madison helped apply the principle to a republic. Contrary to such respected thinkers as Baron de Montesquieu, Madison insisted checks and balances could help protect liberty in a large republic.

1Mar1996 | Jim Powell | 5 comments | Continued

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