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In Democracy in America (1835) the Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville interpreted American society through the lens of democratic political theory. A half-century later the Scotsman James Bryce examined “the institutions and the people… more

These volumes provide a selection of seventy-six essays, pamphlets, speeches, and letters to newspapers written between 1760 and 1805 by American political and religious leaders. Many are obscure pieces, but all illuminate the… more

A classic work on the history of law by one of the great English jurists of the 19th century. Another great English jurist, Sir Frederick Pollock wrote an introduction and extensive notes.

An extraordinary document which details the corruption and financial abuses of the British government as well as the sinecures and privileges of the army, church, and other groups. It was drawn up by John Wade as part of the radical… more

Originally published by Yale University Press in 1944, Bureaucracy is a classic fundamental examination of the nature of bureaucracies and free markets in juxtaposition to various political systems.

Molyneux’s work was eagerly read by the American colonists who used its anti-imperial and anti-mecantilist arguments in their own struggle against Britain.

One of two books by the French liberal Destutt de Tracy which were translated and published by Thomas Jefferson.

The Commentary is Constant’s most extensive treatment of economic matters. It is a response to a multi-volume work by the Italian jurist Gaetano Filangiero, The Science of Legislation (1780-88). Constant defends limited government… more

The Reformation scholar Desiderius Erasmus portrays Peace visiting to earth to deliver her verdict on the human race. She chastises kings and princes, church leaders, noblemen and ordinary soldiers alike for betraying their Christian… more

Arguably no political principle has been more central than the separation of powers to the evolution of constitutional governance in Western democracies. M. J. C. Vile traces the history of the doctrine from its rise during the… more

Constitutionalism: Ancient and Modern explores the very roots of liberty by examining the development of modern constitutionalism from its ancient and medieval origins. Derived from a series of lectures delivered by Charles Howard… more

An influential early 19th century edition of key documents about the ratification of the US Constitution by the states.

An examination of the political ideas behind the Declaration of Independence. Becker examines the theory of natural rights, the view the colonists had of their place in the British Empire, and the literary qualities of the… more

A two volume work in which Lecky explores how the growing tendency towards untrammeled democracy might undermine individual liberty in the coming century.

A two volume work in which Lecky explores how the growing tendency towards untrammeled democracy might undermine individual liberty in the coming century.

A two volume English only version of Liberty Fund’s 4 volume bi-lingual critical edition. In 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville and his friend Gustave de Beaumont visited the United States. From Tocqueville’s copious notes of what he had… more

A new 4 volume edition of Tocqueville’s classic text De la Démocratie en Amérique. The Liberty Fund bilingual edition includes Eduardo Nolla’s historical-critical edition of the French text and notes on the lefthand pages and James… more

A revised and corrected 12th edition in French of Tocqueville’s famous analysis of the nature and consequences of democracy in the American Republic. In 4 vols.

Boetie asks one of the most basic questions of political theory: why is it that a minority of rulers can remain in power over a majority of subjects who pay all the taxes. His answer is that most of the subjects willingly submit to… more

Written in response to Sir Robert Filmer’s Patriarcha (1680), the Discourses Concerning Government is a classic defense of republicanism and popular government. Sidney rejected Filmer’s theories of royal absolutism and divine right… more

A facsimile version of the 1698 edition. Written in response to Sir Robert Filmer’s Patriarcha (1680), the Discourses Concerning Government is a classic defense of republicanism and popular government. Sidney rejected Filmer’s… more

A third volume consisting of Maine’s lectures at the University of Oxford. The first was Village Communities in the East and West”; the second was The Early History of Institutions. This volume is drawn from a number of his courses… more

Published shortly after the First World War, this book is an examination of Christian ethics regarding war and peace which begins with the teachings of Jesus and continues through the first 2 centuries of the Christian era.

This anthology unites the most significant political writing from the compendium known as The Encyclopedia. It includes eighty-one of the most original, controversial and representative articles on political ideas, practices, and… more

Godwin’s best known work of political theory. Written in the early years of the French Revolution before the Terror had begun, Godwin provides a devastating critique of unjust government institutions and optimistically proposes that… more

Gordon takes issue with some of the main natural law theorists, Pufendorf, Barbeyrac and Grotius, over the right of subjects to obey a tyrannical king or of slaves to obey their master. Gordon goes to the root of the problem by… more

Hosgskin began his interesting career as a radical individualist and natural rights defender of the free market with this pamphlet criticising the British naval policy of impressing (i.e. conscripting) sailors into the navy and using… more

One of Priestley’s first extended discussions of the nature of civil liberty.

Spooner argues that it is principle in English law going back to Magna Carta that juries had the right to determine the justice of the laws under which a person might be tried, as well as whether or not the accused is guilty.

This was the second work by George Grote on parliamentary reform. It was published on the eve of the passage of the First Reform Act of 1832 which largely achieved the goals of the Philosophic Radicals around James Mill.

First published in 1656, The Excellencie of a Free-State addressed a dilemma in English politics, namely, what kind of government should the Commonwealth adopt? One possibility was to revert to the ancient constitution and create a… more

This file contains the following extracts from the Jeffersonian Cyclopedia: the editor’s Preface, the illustrations of Jefferson, a chronology of his life and work, the appendix of key documents, and the Topical Index.

An extraordinary document which details the corruption and financial abuses of the British government ax well as the sinecures and privileges of the army, church, and other groups. It was drawn up by John Wade as part of the radical… more

In this influential work Thierry combines two of his main interests, the study of the ruling elites of French history and the rise of the third estate to challenge this rule from the middle ages until the outbreak of the French… more

In 1875, at only twenty-five years of age, Maitland, in pursuit of a fellowship in Cambridge University, submitted a this remarkable work. He went on to become one of greatest legal historians of his time.

An Historical View of the English Government consists of three parts, concerned with the most substantive revolutions in English government and manners: from the Saxon settlement to the Norman Conquest, from the Norman Conquest to… more

Guizot reflects on the principles, goals, and institutions of representative government in Europe from the fifth to the reign of the Tudors in England. In Part 1 he examines such topics as the “true” principles of representative… more

Hobbes on Civil Association consists of Oakeshott’s four principal essays on Hobbes and on the nature of civil association as civil association pertains to ordered liberty. The essays are “Introduction to Leviathan” (1946); “The… more

A German edition of Humboldt’s great work on limited government and individual autonomy.

A classic analysis of imperialism by a British economic journalist who explores the way in which mercantile interests in the home country can manipulate the power of the state in order to get benefits in the colony.

Donisthorpe provides a theory of politics from the individualist standpoint in the tradition of Herbert Spencer and Auberon Herbert. He also attacks the rise of socialism which he regards as the greatest threat to social progress.

The major political treatise by Taylor, one of the Southern supporters of Jefferson, who opposed the centralization of power in the hands of the federal government. It was in large part a reply to John Adam’s Defence of the… more

This is a 1,000 page alphabetical compilation of the thoughts of Thomas Jefferson. The entries are taken from the 12 volume collection of his works edited by Paul Leicester Ford. It also includes numerous illustrations of Jefferson… more

Two essays by Rousseau on the issue of war written during the mid 1750s. The first is a critique of the Abbé Saint-Pierre’s ideas on the prospects of a European Federation to reduce the likelihood of war. The second is his attempt to… more

A collection of essays by a radical individualist political thinker on a range of topics which he called “the hardest nuts to crack”, in other words, topics which pushed the theory of individual liberty to its limits. He discusses… more

Spooner criticises Cleveland’s government, and by implication all U.S. governments as well, for violating the citizen’s natural rights and Spooner’s consent theory of government legitimacy.

The 1909 edition of Hobbe’s best known work of political philosophy is the edition used by Michael Oakeshott in his discussion of Hobbe’s ideas in Hobbes on Civil Association (1937, 1975 Liberty Fund).

Kenneth Minogue offers a brilliant and provocative exploration of liberalism in the Western world today: its roots and its influences, its present state, and its prospects in the new century. Minogue argues most Americans and most… more

The great Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises provides a concise and tightly-argued one volume defense of classical liberalism, focusing on the core concepts of private property, limited government, peace, and the free market.

The great Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises provides a concise and tightly-argued one volume defence of classical liberalism, focussing on the core concepts of private property, limited government, peace, and the free market.

This collection examines themes and ideologies central to the formation of the United States including Edmund Burke’s theories on property rights and government, the influence of Jamaica on the American colonies, the relations… more

Smith was a follower of Herbert Spencer and the English Liberty and Property Defence League. His book is a critique of the growing intervention of the state in economic and civil matters in Australia and elsewhere in the late 19th… more

An anthology of primary sources which documents the first great party struggle in American history between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists over the proper construction of the new Constitution, political economy, the… more

Constant’s classic work in which he contrasts unfavorably the purely political liberties of the ancients with the far more expansive notion of liberty among the moderns.

The 1874 edition of this work. Impugning John Stuart Mill’s famous treatise, On Liberty, Stephen criticized Mill for turning abstract doctrines of the French Revolution into “the creed of a religion.” Only the constraints of morality… more

The Liberty Fund edition of this work. Impugning John Stuart Mill’s famous treatise, On Liberty, Stephen criticized Mill for turning abstract doctrines of the French Revolution into “the creed of a religion.” Only the constraints of… more

Liberty, Order, and Justice seeks to familiarize students with the basic principles of the Constitution, and to explain their origin, meaning, and purpose. Particular emphasis is placed on federalism and the separation of powers.… more

Literature of Liberty: A Review of Contemporary Liberal Thought was published first by the Cato Institute (1978-1979) and later by the Institute for Humane Studies (1980-1982) under the editorial direction of Leonard P. Liggio. It… more

A collection of essays about the history and continuing significance of Magna Carta.

This is a detailed and meticulous edition of Magna Carta with each clause in the original Latin, followed by an English translation and heavily annotated by the editor.

A model of intellectual history which documents where, when, and under what influences Alexis de Tocqueville wrote different sections of his Democracy in America and how the central themes of that work - democracy, individualism,… more

A facsimile edition of the four essays that Spencer published as The Man Versus the State in 1884. Spencer develops various specific disastrous ramifications of the wholesale substitution of the principle of compulsory cooperation -… more

This volume contains the four essays that Spencer published as The Man Versus the State in 1884 as well as five essays added by later publishers. In addition, it provides “The Proper Sphere of Government,” an important early essay by… more

In this 2 volume work Bryce surveys modern democracies including France, Switzerland, and Canada in vol.1; and the US, Australia, New Zealand in vol. 2.

Initially sponsored by the University of Chicago Chapter of the Intercollegiate Society of Individualists, the New Individualist Review was more than the usual “campus magazine.” It declared itself “founded in a commitment to human… more

Although this is numbered number 6 there were only three parts to this series (1, 2, and 6) in which Spooner argues that the individual is not bound to obey the American constitution because it justified slavery and otherwise… more

Published in 1944, during World War II, Omnipotent Government was written and published after Mises arrived in the United States. In this volume Mises provides in economic terms an explanation of the international conflicts that… more

Lieber discusses the nature of civil iberty, its history, the rule of law, parliament, the independence of the judiciary, and includes a nuber of English, American, and French constitutinal documents.

Mill had been somewhat coy about publishing The Subjection of Women during his lifetime because he feared the condemnation of his peers for daring to apply the general notions of individual liberty which he had clearly spelled out in… more

A collection of anti-federalist pamphlets written between 1787-88 by Elbridge Gerry, Noah Webster, John Jay, Melancthon Smith, Pelatiah Werster, Tench Coxe, James Wilson, John Dickinson, Alexander Contee Hanson, Edmund Randolph,… more

Tyrrell was a friend and supporter of John Locke who also joined in the battle against the ideas in support of the divine right of kings expressed in the work of Sir Robert Filmer. There is much in this book about the power of the… more

In the aftermath of the English Revolution which saw the execution of a king and the creation of a Commonwealth and the restoration of the monarchy, Filmer wrote a solid defense of the divine right of kings which in turn prompted… more

During the wars of the French Revolution Kant was inspired by the Treaty of Basel to contemplate how both self-interest and international cooperation might bring an end to war. This edition is interesting because it was published… more

Politica presents a unique vision of the commonwealth as a harmonious ordering of natural associations. According to Althusius, power and authority grow from more local to more general associations. Of particular interest to the… more

A translation by F.W. Maitland of part of vol. 3 of Das deutsche Genossenschaftsrecht (1881) entitled “Die publicistischen Lehren des Mittelalters.” It is a short history of the evolution of modern political thought which emerged… more

A 2 volume collection of Rousseau’s works (in French) edited and with thoughtful and helpful introductions by Vaughan in 1915.

A 2 volume set of Benjamin Jowett’s translation of one of Aristotle’s most influential writings. The editor provides detailed marginal annotations and lengthy introductions to each book.

Originally written for the Quarterly Review, these essays question the commonly accepted justifications for “popular government” - Rousseauian natural law and Benthamite utilitarianism. The Liberty Fund edition based upon the first… more

Originally written for the Quarterly Review, these essays question the commonly accepted justifications for “popular government” - Rousseauian natural law and Benthamite utilitarianism. This edition is the 3rd ed. of 1886.

A heavily annotated edition by Burd with the famous introduction by Lord Acton. The text is in the original Italian.

This 1891 translation includes a number of Kant’s shorter pieces on Universal History, Political Right, Principle of Progress, and Perpetual Peace.

In Principles of Politics, Constant “explores many subjects: law, sovereignty, and representation; power and accountability; government, property and taxation; wealth and poverty; war, peace, and the maintenance of public order; and… more

Montagu’s warnings in Reflections on the Rise and Fall of the Ancient Republicks are unusual in that each of the five states he examines supplies a separate lesson adapted to the needs of Britain during the crisis. Discussion of… more

John Adams got to know Mably when he was in Paris in the early 1780s. Mably wrote a noted history of France and was keen to write a book on the American Revolution. He spoke about this to Adams who encouraged the project. In his … more

A stand-alone version of “The Republic” taken from Volume 3 of a 5 volume edition of Plato by the great English Victorian Greek scholar, Benjamin Jowett. The scholarly apparatus is immense and detailed. The online version preserves… more

A radical individualist appeals to the workmen of Tyneside in 1885 to give up demands for government intervention in the name of both morality and economic efficiency. The Liberty Fund edition includes this and other essays in the… more

A collection of essays by a leading late-19th century radical individualist and follower of the ideas of Herbert Spencer. Herbert discusses the moral problems of state coercion, especially when applied to state education, and… more

Scholasticism and Politics, first published in 1940, is a collection of nine lectures Jacques Maritain delivered at the University of Chicago in 1938. Maritain championed the cause of what he called personalist democracy—a regime… more

A 4 volume collection on Burke’s speeches and writings on economics, the American Revolution and the French Revolution.

This 1913 edition of Rousseau’s works includes the famous Social Contract as well as 3 discourses on Arts and Sciences, the Origin of Inequality, and Political Economy. Rousseau’s writings inspired liberals and non-liberals alike… more

In The Limits of State Action Humboldt explores the role that liberty plays in individual development, discusses criteria for permitting the state to limit individual actions, and suggests ways of confining the state to its proper… more

An edition from 1821. It was written in 1795 when Britain was leading the Coalition of monarchies in a war against the French Revolution, this is Knox’s warning that war against a foreign enemy helps create despotic government at… more

The State is a brilliant analysis of modern political arrangements that views the state as acting in its own interest contrary to the interests of individuals and even of an entire society.

Read the Liberty Classic on this title from… more

A pioneering historical analysis of the state from a sociological perspective which focuses on the changing nature of political power and the groups who wielded this power. One of his key insights is the distinction between the… more

Grote wrote this defence of electoral reform, the extension of suffrage, and brief terms for parliament against an essay by James Mackintosh which appeared in the Edinburgh Review.

The political tracts of the English peoples in the seventeenth century established enduring principles of governance and of liberty that benefited not only themselves but the founders of the American republic. These writings, by the… more

Written during the English Revolution, Milton’s pamphlet argues that there exists a voluntary contract between free men and their rulers, and that if a ruler becomes a tyrant then the people have the right to depose him if the… more

An extended critique of Locke’s consent theory.

Locke’s most famous work of political philosophy began as a reply to Filmer’s defense of the idea of the divine right of kings and ended up becoming a defense of natural rights, especially property rights, and of government limited… more

Edmund Burke’s first work, originally issued anonymously in 1756 as a letter attributed to “a late noble writer.” The Vindication is a political and social satire ridiculing the popular enlightenment notion of a pre-civil “natural… more

One of the first responses to Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France. Wollstonecraft later lived in France during the Terror and wrote a history of the events she witnessed.

This volume consists of a lecture Herbert gave at Oxford University in 1906 in honour of Herbert Spencer and an essay he wrote just before his death outlining the principles of his philosophy of Voluntaryism.

A 4 volume collection of the works of Thomas Paine.