The constitutional history of the American colonists and the Iroquois Confederacy sheds new light on the dynamics of group decision-making. It shows that the scope of government tends to grow as the requirements for consensus weaken, and that changes in rule-making procedures provoke people to adopt new strategies for pursuing their goals.
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.
American HistoryDemocracyEconomic History and DevelopmentEconomyLaw and LibertyPhilosophy and ReligionPublic 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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