04229nam 2200697 a 450 991080986960332120230725054301.00-674-26332-40-674-06305-810.4159/harvard.9780674063051(CKB)2550000000074552(OCoLC)768123030(CaPaEBR)ebrary10518210(SSID)ssj0000551173(PQKBManifestationID)11355812(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000551173(PQKBWorkID)10525962(PQKB)10802849(MiAaPQ)EBC3301000(DE-B1597)178312(OCoLC)840438885(DE-B1597)9780674063051(Au-PeEL)EBL3301000(CaPaEBR)ebr10518210(EXLCZ)99255000000007455220110324d2011 uy 0engurcn|||||||||txtccrDesign for liberty[electronic resource] private property, public administration, and the rule of law /Richard A. EpsteinCambridge, Mass. Harvard University Press20111 online resource (246 p.) Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph0-674-06184-5 Includes bibliographical references and index.The traditional conception of the rule of law -- Reasonableness standards and the rule of law -- Where natural law and utilitarianism converge -- Where natural law and utilitarianism diverge -- Property rights in the grand social scheme -- The bundle of rights -- Eminent domain -- Liberty interests -- Positive sum projects -- Redistribution last -- The rule of law diminished -- Retroactivity -- Modern applications: financial reform and health care -- Final reflections.Following a vast expansion in the twentieth century, government is beginning to creak at the joints under its enormous weight. The signs are clear: a bloated civil service, low approval ratings for Congress and the President, increasing federal-state conflict, rampant distrust of politicians and government officials, record state deficits, and major unrest among public employees.In this compact, clearly written book, the noted legal scholar Richard Epstein advocates a much smaller federal government, arguing that our over-regulated state allows too much discretion on the part of regulators, which results in arbitrary, unfair decisions, rent-seeking, and other abuses. Epstein bases his classical liberalism on the twin pillars of the rule of law and of private contracts and property rights-an overarching structure that allows private property to keep its form regardless of changes in population, tastes, technology, and wealth. This structure also makes possible a restrained public administration to implement limited objectives. Government continues to play a key role as night-watchman, but with the added flexibility in revenues and expenditures to attend to national defense and infrastructure formation.Although no legal system can eliminate the need for discretion in the management of both private and public affairs, predictable laws can cabin the zone of discretion and permit arbitrary decisions to be challenged. Joining a set of strong property rights with sound but limited public administration could strengthen the rule of law, with its virtues of neutrality, generality, clarity, consistency, and forward-lookingness, and reverse the contempt and cynicism that have overcome us.LibertyRule of lawNatural lawRight of propertyUnited StatesRule of lawUnited StatesLawPolitical aspectsUnited StatesLiberty.Rule of law.Natural law.Right of propertyRule of lawLawPolitical aspects340/.11MD 4500rvkEpstein Richard A57411MiAaPQMiAaPQMiAaPQBOOK9910809869603321Design for liberty3987684UNINA