Jeffrey Friedman, RIP
Friedman was a notable - and underrated - political theorist.
The response is part of the Balkinization blog symposium on his book " Burning Down the House: How Libertarian Philosophy Was Corrupted by Delusion and Greed," in which I was among the participants.
Participants include Jonathan Adler, Richard Epstein, Christina Mulligan, and myself, among others.
A new study presents compelling evidence that opposition to new housing construction is often caused the mistaken belief that it will increase housing prices rather than reduce them.
Participants include Daniel Farber, Keith Whittington, Cristina Rodriguez, Lisa Heinzerling, and myself, among others.
GOP politicians lied in order to exploit public ignorance. That dynamic is just one particularly egregious example of the broader danger widespread voter ignorance and bias.
Two new studies say there's no evidence of political learning on social media, but it does increasingly teach us to hate our opponents.
Tyler Cowen explains why it's a mistake to conflate democracy with what is good and just.
Canadian legal scholar Leonid Sirota outlines some reasons why.
It is now available for download on SSRN. The chapter is part of a forthcoming volume on "The Epistemology of Democracy," edited by Hana Samaržija and Quassim Cassam.
Economist Tyler Cowen argues this approach is too often neglected. But is more common than he suggests.
The authors include big-name conservative former federal judges Michael Luttig and Michael McConnell, former Bush Solicitor General Ted Olson, and others.
Video of presentations by the leaders of the Conservative, Libertarian, and Progressive Teams. Plus, my thoughts on a comparison of the three reports by Progressive Team leader Ned Foley.
The project includes reports by conservative, libertarian, and progressive teams. I am coauthor of the Team Libertarian report.
Most of those open to evidence already know that Trump tried to reverse the outcome of an election he legitimately lost. Reaching the rest is likely to be extremely difficult, at best.
One of the world's leading experts on public knowledge and ignorance explains why consumers of misinformation are often as much to blame as producers.
In an important new article, political philosophers Jason Brennan and Christopher Freiman explain why standard justifications for paternalistic restrictions on consumers also apply to voters.
Harvard Law Professor Guy-Uriel Charles has some useful insights on the problem.
The answer, as Tyler Cowen and Matthew Yglesias, argue, is probably not. But political ignorance is still a serious problem.
Ignorance and bias played a major role in the attack on the Capitol and in the continuing belief of many Republicans that Biden didn't really win the 2020 election. The issue is part of the broader problem of political ignorance and bias, which is by no means confined to any one side of the political spectrum.
One of the greatest political economists of the 20th century passed away earlier this month.
It could make the Court more vulnerable to political attack and to measures such as court-packing. But the vulnerability might not be great - or last long.
The article explains how expanding opportunities for foot voting can enhance political choice, help the poor and disadvantaged, and reduce the dangers of political polarization.
Being jerks is just the way some people try to make themselves feel dominant.
The system routinely excludes not only those who might be familiar with a given case, but also those who have relevant background knowledge that might improve the quality of jury deliberations.
The previous administration had made some reasonable changes, but also introduced questions based on factual errors and questionable normative assumptions smuggled in under the guise of factual knowledge.
Some of the changes are reasonable. But many of the new questions are badly designed and incorporate serious errors. Moreover, such tests raise the deeper issue of why immigrants are required to pass a test to get the right to vote, but natives are not.
His promotion of far-fetched conspiracy theories about the election is highly unlikely to change the results. But it is damaging, nonetheless.
There could be in some situations. But less often than many assume. And, ironically, the same reasoning suggests many people would have a duty NOT to vote in such cases.
Recent works by longtime intellectual antagonists Cass Sunstein (author of "Too Much Information") and Mario Rizzo and Glen Whitman (authors of "Escaping Paternalism") have a surprising amount of common ground.
Could paying less attention to politics be better for you, your relationships, and society?
The poll shows extensive ignorance among millenials and Generation Z, and is consistent with many previous studies showing widespread ignorance about politics and history. But one of its findings may be less bad than it looks.
Political philosopher Jason Brennan explains why.
The law is a step in the right direction, but has significant limitations, that should be a warning sign for future reform efforts.
Second in a series of posts based on my new book "Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom"
The first in a series of posts based on my book "Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom"
Professor Balkin asked me many great questions in interview just published at his Balkinization blog.
It's available for preorder now, and will be delivered on April 23
Recent controversies over election rules and the coronavirus threat have bolstered advocates of decision-making by randomly selected groups of voters. But this approach still has serious flaws.
My 2015 post on this subject includes points relevant to our current situation.
A New York Times study describes how both red and blue states use public education to indoctrinate students in their preferred ideologies. This dynamic should dampen hopes that public education can fix the problem of widespread political ignorance.
Such scientific ignorance is common in th US as well, and can have a harmful influence on government policy.
The article is now available on SSRN.
Historian Stephen Davies provides a good explanation of why fringe "cultic milieu" ideas are growing in influence. It's a troubling development, but not one that should lead us to categorically abjure non-mainstream political ideas.
The dispute over Harvard's decision to rescind the admission of Parkland shooting survivor/gun rights activist Kyle Kashuv should remind us of the reasons why we should not have given any special status to his views in the first place. The same goes for most others in similar situations.
The seemingly new version of socialism advocated by many on the left today has all too many flaws in common with old kind.
Russia's interference in the 2016 election was wrong. But the reasons why are harder to pin down than you might think. Not all foreign interference in elections is unjustified. Far from it, in fact.
Political theorist Jacob Levy reminds us that the arc of history doesn't always bend towards justice. Moral retrogression has happened before, and could well occur again.