Synopses & Reviews
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.
Synopsis
According to Bruno Leoni, the greatest obstacle to rule of law in our time is the problem of overlegislation. In modern democratic societies, legislative bodies increasingly usurp functions that were, and should be, exercised by individuals or groups rather than government.
Table of Contents
Foreword to the Third Edition vii
FREEDOM AND THE LAW 1
Introduction 3 1 Which Freedom? 26
2 “Freedom” and “Constraint” 43
3 Freedom and the Rule of Law 58
4 Freedom and the Certainty of the Law 76
5 Freedom and Legislation 95
6 Freedom and Representation 112
7 Freedom and the Common Will 133
8 Some Difficulties Analyzed 153
Conclusion 172 THE LAW AND POLITICS 187
[A Note] 188
1 The Law as Individual Claim 189
2 Law and Economy in the Making 204
3 The Economic Approach to the Political 219
4 Voting Versus the Market 235 Index 249