Leviathan The Growth of Local Government and the Erosion of Liberty

by Bolick, Clint

• ISBN13: 9780817945527
• ISBN10: 0817945520
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-07-01
• Publisher: Hoover Institution Press

Summary

Those who declare the era of big government over, says Clint Bolick, are dead wrong. In Leviathan, Bolick shows that, although the national government has downsized somewhat since the Reagan era, local government has grown exponentially. This ever-expanding beast, he explains, saps our nation's productive vitality and threatens us with "grassroots tyranny." Drawing from his experience as an attorney with the Institute for Justice, Bolick uses illuminating cases from the litigation trenches to show how powerful local government has infringed on freedom of speech, freedom of commerce and enterprise, private property rights, and even the simple right to be left alone. He explains how locally controlled government school systems reflect the values of powerful interest groups and why-despite spending millions of taxpayers' dollars-they are unable to provide the basics of education. Bolick ultimately reveals that, although the rules are often rigged in favor of local governments and against ordinary citizens, we can take action to rein in these out-of-control bureaucracies.

Author Biography

Clint Bolick is research fellow at the Hoover Institution and president of and general counsel for the Alliance for School Choice, the nation's foremost organization advocating school choice programs.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	xi
PART ONE: THE NATURE OF THE BEAST
Leviathan	3	(22)
Federalism: The Grand Design	25	(18)
The Curious Evolution of Federalism	43	(26)
PART TWO: THE EROSION OF LIBERTY
Freedom of Commerce and Enterprise	69	(14)
Private-Property Rights	83	(18)
Freedom of Speech	101	(12)
The Right to Be Left Alone	113	(12)
Racial Discrimination	125	(16)
The Government School System	141	(16)
PART THREE: TAMING THE BEAST
Fighting Big Government at the Local Level	157	(18)
Notes	175	(20)
About the Author	195	(2)
Index	197