Is government inevitable? Comment on holcombe’s analysis
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2017
Abstract
Randall G. Holcombe's article "Government: Unnecessary but Inevitable" offers excellent insights into the sustainability of anarchy and the creation of government. He argues that because the stronger individuals will always get their way and form a government, the relevant debate among advocates of liberty should be about how weaker individuals can "create and sustain pre-emptively a liberty-preserving government." the international sphere remains anarchic and shows few signs of coming under the rule of formal government. The pre-emptive creation of limited government in Holcombe's argument faces another serious problem as well. Holcombe's argument represents an advance over the argument of public-choice economists who analyze the formation of government as a voluntary social contract. Holcombe's pessimistic anarchism, with its recognition that government is unnecessary, is a welcome improvement over the offerings of other advocates of limited government.
Recommended Citation
Leeson, Peter and Stringham, Edward P., "Is government inevitable? Comment on holcombe’s analysis" (2017). College of Humanities and Social Sciences. 364.
https://digitalcommons.uncfsu.edu/college_humanities_social_sciences/364