Against Politics: On Government, Anarchy and Order (Routledge Studies in Social and Political Thought) [Hardcover]

Anthony De Jasay (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415170672 | ISBN-13: 978-0415170673 | Publication Date: December 22, 1997 | Edition: 1

Is the state a necessity, a convenience, or neither? It enforces collective choices in which some override the preferences and dispose of the resources of others. Moreover, collective choice serves as its own source of authority and preempts the space it wishes to occupy. The morality and efficacy of the result are perennial questions central to political philosophy.
In Against Politics Jasay takes a closely reasoned stand, based on modern rational choice arguments, for rejecting much of mainstream thought about these matters. In the first part of the book, Excuses, he assesses the standard justification of government based consent, the power of constitutions to achieve limited government, and ideas for reforming politics. In the second part, Emergent Solutions , he explores the force of first principles to secure liberties and rights and some of the potential of spontaneous conventions for generating ordered anarchy.
Written with clarity and simplicity, this powerful volume represents the central part of Jasay's recent work. Fully accessible to the general reader, it should stimulate the specialist reader to fresh thought.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'De Jasay - economist, one-time businessman, and political philosopher - has argued in a series of powerful books (notably The State and the just-published Against Politics that democracies are vulnerable to majoritarian tyranny in which the majority redistributes to itself through the state the possessions of the rest.' - Patrick Mitford, Daily Telegraph

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (December 22, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415170672
• ISBN-13: 978-0415170673
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,060,789 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The case against the state, June 8, 2000

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"zacharym87" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Against Politics: On Government, Anarchy and Order (Routledge Studies in Social and Political Thought) (Hardcover)

De Jasay's book does an excellent job punctuating the arguments typically used to justify the state. He shows the absurdity of contractariansim (if the state is necessary to enforce contracts, then how did the state make a contract with the people for its establishment?). His essay "Is Limited Government Possible?" is an excellent tonic for those libertarians who feel that the state can be effectively constrained by a constitution. In addition to the problem of enforcement, de Jasay highlights the disturbing tendency of the state to expand indefinitely as an increasingly smaller majority is necessary to exploit an increasingly larger minority (culminating in democracy where a coalition of 50+1 gets to exploit the remaining 49.9). He also demonstrates the flaws of adopting loose limitations on government action (for instance, if governement is supposed to promote fairness, who defines "fairness"?) The second part of the book highlights the functioning of social institutions and conventions that existed prior to governement and evolved independently of the state, strengthening the conclusion that people can lead peaceful, fulfilling lives without the state. I would have given this book five stars, except that it suffers from the same defect as most treatises of academic philosophy in that his writing style is often a bit dry.