Advanced Topics in Liberty

Federalism and Competition

Conference for students - April 12-14, 2013

Discussion Leader: Geoffrey Brennan

Session 1: The Logic of Federalism

Weingast, Barry R. “The Economic Role of Political Institutions: Market-Preserving Federalism and Economic Development.” Journal of Law, Economics & Organization 11, no. 1 (April 1995): 1–31. Entire article.

Vanberg, Viktor J. The Constitution of Markets: Essays in Political Economy. London: Routledge, 2001. Chapter 1, “Constitutionally Constrained and Safeguarded Competition in Markets and Politics” (pages 1–16).

Session 2: The Original Case for American Federalism

Allen, W.B. and Gordon Lloyd, eds. The Essential Antifederalist, Second Edition. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2002. Selections from Chapter 2, “Federal Farmer, Letters I and XVII” (pages 78–96), and “Brutus Essay I and V” (pages 105–122).

Acton, John Emerich Edward Dalberg. Selected Writings of Lord Acton, Volume I: Essays in the History of Liberty. Edited by J. Rufus Fears. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1985. Selections from Chapter 23, “Acton-Lee Correspondence” (pages 362–367).

Carey, George W. and James McClellan, eds. The Federalist. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, Inc., 2001. Number 17 (pages 80–84), Number 39 (pages 193–199), and Number 51 (pages 267–272).

Ketcham, Ralph, eds. The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates. New York: Penguin Group, 1986. “Debate on Federalism (June 21)” (pages 86–89).

Session 3: Federalism's Dark Side

Bolick, Clint. Grassroots Tyranny: The Limits of Federalism. Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute, 1993. “Introduction” (pages 1–9), Part I, Chapter 1, “Competing Visions of Federalism” (pages 13–36), and Part II, Chapter 5, “The Many Manifestations of Grassroots Tyranny” (pages 95–109).

Session 4: The Dynamics of Centralization

Vaubel, Roland. The Centralisation of Western Europe: the Common Market, Political Integration, and Democracy. London: Institute of Economic Affairs, 1995. Chapter 1, “Introduction” (pages 11–15), Chapter 2, “Efficiency Criteria” (pages 16–33), and Chapter 3, “Explanations” (pages 34–55).

Session 5: Competition in Law and Taxation

Marciano, Alain and Jean-Michel Josselin, eds. From Economic to Legal Competition: New Perspectives on Law and Institutions in Europe. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2003. Sophie Delabruyère’s “On ‘Legal Choice’ and Legal Competition in A Federal System of Justice: Lessons for European Legal Integration” (pages 19–43).

Brennan, Geoffrey and James M. Buchanan. The Collected Works of James M. Buchanan, Volume 9: The Power to Tax: Analytical Foundations of a Fiscal Constitution. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, Inc., 2000. Chapter 9, “Open Economy, Federalism, and Taxing Authority” (pages 197–217).

Session 6: Maintaining Jurisdictional Competition and Liberty

Bolick, Clint. Grassroots Tyranny: The Limits of Federalism. Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute, 1993. Part III, Chapter 11, “Liberty, Community, and the Future of Federalism” (pages 177–189).

Buchanan, James M. The Collected Works of James M. Buchanan, Volume 18: Federalism, Liberty, and the Law. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, Inc., 2001. Selection from Chapter 2, “Federalism and Individual Sovereignty” (pages 79–89).