In this Book
- Freedom and the Law
- Book
- 2012
- Published by: Liberty Fund
Those who value individual freedom should reassess the place of the individual within the legal system as a whole. It is no longer a question of defending this or that particular freedom. . . . It is a question of deciding whether individual freedom is compatible in principle with the present system centered on . . . legislation.
—Bruno Leoni, from the introduction
The greatest obstacle to rule of law in our time, contends the author of this thought-provoking work, is the problem of overlegislation. In modern democratic societies, legislative bodies are increasingly usurping functions that were and should be exercised by individuals or groups rather than government. The result is an unwieldy surfeit of laws and regulations that by their sheer volume stifle individual freedom.
Bruno Leoni (1913–1967) was an attorney and Professor of Legal Theory and the Theory of the State at the University of Pavia, Italy.
Arthur Kemp is Professor Emeritus of Economics, at Claremont McKenna College.
Table of Contents
- Title Page, Copyright
- pp. iii-iv
- Foreword to the Third Edition
- pp. vii-xi
- Introduction
- pp. 3-25
- 1. Which Freedom?
- pp. 26-42
- 2. "Freedom" and "Constraint"
- pp. 43-57
- 3. Freedom and the Rule of Law
- pp. 58-75
- 5. Freedom and Legislation
- pp. 95-111
- 6. Freedom and Representation
- pp. 112-132
- 7. Freedom and the Common Will
- pp. 133-152
- 8. Some Difficulties Analyzed
- pp. 153-171
- Conclusion
- pp. 172-186
- The Law and Politics
- pp. 187-188
- 1. The Law as Individual Claim
- pp. 189-203
- 2. Law and Economy in the Making
- pp. 204-218
- 3. The Economic Approach to the Political
- pp. 219-234
- 4. Voting Versus the Market
- pp. 235-249
- Publication Information
- p. 260