When liberty and democracy are recognized as both economic and political systems, it becomes clear that at some level they conflict. If majority rule can threaten private-property rights, then there is no basis for holding that liberty and democracy can peacefully coexist for the rest of history.
Randall G. Holcombe is a Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute, DeVoe Moore Professor of Economics at Florida State University, and author of the Independent book Liberty in Peril: Democracy and Power in American History.
DemocracyEconomyGovernment and PoliticsLaw and LibertyPhilosophy and ReligionPolitical TheoryPublic Choice
Other Independent Review articles by Randall G. Holcombe
Spring 2024 Privatize the Public Sector: Murray Rothbard’s Stateless Libertarian Society
Winter 2023/24 Rethinking Economics as Social Theory
Spring 2023 Generation Gap: Why Baby Boomers Still Dominate American Politics and Culture
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