What Ilya Somin thinks about democracy
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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2 dated positions, 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what Ilya Somin has said — not written or endorsed by them.
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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.