Democracy - The God That Failed: The Economics and Politics of Monarchy, Democracy and Natural Order / Edition 1

by Hans-Hermann Hoppe

Overview

The core of this book is a systematic treatment of the historic transformation of the West from monarchy to democracy. Revisionist in nature, it reaches the conclusion that monarchy is a lesser evil than democracy, but outlines deficiencies in both. Its methodology is axiomatic-deductive, allowing the writer to derive economic and sociological theorems, and then apply them to interpret historical events.

A compelling chapter on time preference describes the progress of civilization as lowering time preferences as capital structure is built, and explains how the interaction between people can lower time all around, with interesting parallels to the Ricardian Law of Association. By focusing on this transformation, the author is able to interpret many historical phenomena, such as rising levels of crime, degeneration of standards of conduct and morality, and the growth of the mega-state. In underscoring the deficiencies of both monarchy and democracy, the author demonstrates how these systems are both inferior to a natural order based on private-property.

Hoppe deconstructs the classical liberal belief in the possibility of limited government and calls for an alignment of conservatism and libertarianism as natural allies with common goals. He defends the proper role of the production of defense as undertaken by insurance companies on a free market, and describes the emergence of private law among competing insurers.

Having established a natural order as superior on utilitarian grounds, the author goes on to assess the prospects for achieving a natural order. Informed by his analysis of the deficiencies of social democracy, and armed with the social theory of legitimation, he forsees secession as the likely future of the US and Europe, resulting in a multitude of region and city-states. This book complements the author's previous work defending the ethics of private property and natural order. Democracy - The God that Failed will be of interest to scholars and students of history, political economy, and political philosophy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780765808684
Publisher:	Transaction Publishers
Publication date:	07/30/2001
Series:	Perspectives on Democratic Practice
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	328
Sales rank:	245,935
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Hans-Hermann Hoppe received his Ph.D. and his -Habilitation- from the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He is currently professor of economics at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, senior fellow of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, Auburn, AL, and editor of the Journal of Libertarian Studies: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly Review.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1. On Time Preference, Government, and the Process of Decivilization 2. On Monarchy, Democracy, and the Idea of Natural Order 3. On Monarchy, Democracy, Public Opinion, and Delegitimation 4. On Democracy, Redistribution, and the Destruction of Property 5. On Centralization and Secession 6. On Socialism and Desocialization 7. On Free Immigration and Forced Integration 8. On Free Trade and Restricted Immigration 9. On Cooperation, Tribe, City, and State 10. On Conservatism and Libertarianism 11. On the Errors of Classical Liberalism and the Future of Liberty 12. On Government and the Private Production of Defense 13. On the Impossibility of Limited Government and the Prospect for Revolution