Surf’s Up: Roman Law and Beach Houses
Richard Epstein explains why policy around laws governing coastal property rights and construction is grounded in ancient Roman natural law. In addition, he argues for coordinated, state-facilitated seawalls that preserve views and access and, where necessary, for using condemnation (and compensation) rather than forbidding owners to protect already-developed properties under a sweeping public-trust theory.
The Libertarian
Can the President Declare a Trade ‘Emergency’? On the Supreme Court’s Tariff Case
Richard Epstein delves into one of the most consequential Constitutional questions of our time: can the president unilaterally impose tariffs under emergency powers?
Is Gerrymandering Unconstitutional?
Gerrymandering is back in the headlines — and this time, the political map wars in Texas and California are colliding with the courts, the Constitution, and the future of American democracy.
Politics
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Liberal Democracy Reexamined: Leo Strauss on Alexis de Tocqueville
This article explores Leo Strauss’s thoughts on Alexis de Tocqueville in his 1954 “Natural Right” course transcript.
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Long Distance Migration as a Two-Step Sorting Process: The Resettlement of Californians in Texas
Here we press the question of whether the well-documented stream of migrants relocating from California to Texas has been sufficient to alter the political complexion of the destination state.
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Who's That Knocking? A Study of the Strategic Choices Facing Large-Scale Grassroots Canvassing Efforts
Although there is a consensus that personalized forms of campaign outreach are more likely to be effective at either mobilizing or even persuading voters, there remains uncertainty about how campaigns should implement get-out-the-vote (GOTV) programs, especially at a truly expansive scale.
Can social democracy save capitalism — again?
Zohran Mamdani’s inauguration this week as New York City mayor is a moment of reckoning for those who care about preserving the American way of life.
Why are Zoomers embracing extremist ideas?
Conservatives have rightly denounced the extremist tendency among young progressives, but there’s a similar problem now evident on the Right.
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Australia: A Nation Adrift
The battle of ideas must be urgently engaged if the descent of a great country into tribalism, economic stagnation, cultural self-loathing, and perpetual grievance-mongering is to be averted.
Hayek, Orwell, and “The End of Truth”
“The tragedy of collectivist thought,” Hayek noted, “is that, while it starts out to make reason supreme, it ends by destroying reason because it misconceives the process on which the growth of reason depends.”
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