In his book Against Politics: On Government, Anarchy and Order, anarcho-liberal theorist Anthony de Jasay argues that, without the State, society would evolve incentives for peace and order, rather than a Hobbesian war of all against all. Although De Jasay fails to show why anarchists themselves wouldn’t abuse power, he effectively argues that the Hobbesian assumption is not always true.

Andrew R. Rutten is a former Lecturer in the Department of Political Science at Stanford University.
EconomistsEconomyFreedomGovernment and PoliticsGovernment PowerLaw and LibertyPhilosophy and ReligionPolitical Theory
Other Independent Review articles by Andrew R. Rutten
Fall 2006 Politics in Time
Fall 2003 The New Economy (Pre)Dux; or, What History Teaches Us about the Wired World
Summer 2001 Rethinking the New Deal Court: The Structure of a Constitutional Revolution
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