Ilya Somin
American legal scholar; professor of law at George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School and a contributor to The Volokh Conspiracy. Author of Democracy and Political Ignorance (2013) and Free to Move (2020); writes on property rights, migration, federalism and libertarianism.
Ilya Somin did not write this page.
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Their wordsLibertarians are a small minority, he says, and "we have no comparative advantage when it comes to extolling the virtues of democracy relative to authoritarianism. Other types of liberals can do this work just as well as we can, perhaps better."
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happinesslibertarianismdemocracy
Their wordsIlya argues that democracy shouldn't be "a first-order libertarian priority, on par with liberty, constraining coercion, property rights, and increasing human happiness," because its value is instrumental rather than intrinsic.
- 3 days earlier
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Their wordsI agree with Slade, Jonathan Adler, and others that fusionism is far preferable to nationalism and postliberalism.
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Their wordsFinally, at least in the short to medium term future, an alliance with "abundance liberals" is probably a more promising political strategy for libertarians than a revival of fusionism.
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Our reading
Fusionists are unlikely to regain control over the conservative movement in the near future.
Their wordsBut we should recognize that fusionists are unlikely to regain control over the conservative movement anytime soon, and that fusionism has notable inherent limitations.
- 10 days earlier
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governmentlibertarianismdemocracy
Their wordsLibertarians should generally prefer democracy to other forms of government. But democracy should not be a first-order libertarian priority.
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Their wordsRather, democracy is an institutional tool that can - if properly constrained - help achieve genuinely fundamental values. In that respect, it is similar to such institutions as federalism, separation of powers, and judicial review. All of these can have great instrumental value. But none are valuable in and of themselves.
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Their wordsBut, as outlined in my own recent contribution to Liberalism.Org (which Zwolinski generously references in his article), real-world voters are are often systematically ignorant, do a poor job of evaluating the information they do know, and sometimes have deeply illiberal values.
- 5 days earlier
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Their wordsThe right answer is that the Nazis were similar to socialists in backing sweeping government control over the economy, yet different from them in rejecting racial and ethnic equality.
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Our reading
The ubiquity of ethnic persecution under socialist regimes suggests a systematic pattern.
Their wordsThe ubiquity of ethnic persecution - often rising to the level of deportation and mass murder - under socialist regimes, suggests a systematic pattern.
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Their wordsA key factor is that socialism requires immense coercion and concentration of power in order to function.
- 8 days earlier
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Their wordsAlthough she does not seem to recognize it, the best way to help students from less advantaged families than her own is to expand exit and choice opportunities for them.
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Their wordsPeer-reviewed studies of the effects of vouchers find that they actually improve the quality of public schools "left behind" by those who exit.
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Their wordsAs noted in my book, studies indicate that expanding exit rights and choice particularly benefits the poor and disadvantaged - including minorities.