Public choice, Empire of Liberty, the US Constitution

Boyes makes a key point in his analysis of chapters 4, 5 and 6 of Empire of Liberty when he observes that the public choice issues of 1789 are with us today.

These issues revolve around:

1. The role of the state.
2. The locus of power within the state.
3. Federalism.
4. The size of the state.

As I reflect on the Federalist/Republican debate as described by Wood I think that Madison (see Boyes previous post on the book) is a reflective personality in illuminating the similarity in views of the two camps. Both Hamilton and Jefferson were familiar with Adam Smith's work in The Wealth of Nations and considered what a system of natural liberty implied, the role of the state within that system and how they anticipated that the state would emerge.

Both, I think, supported a state that would defend the nascent republic, a state that would defend individual liberty and rights and would provide security from the threats that confronted the new nation.

Jefferson appears to see the state as supporting the agricultural and rural life of society - so he would be pleased with the subsidies that currently characterize the Dept. of Agriculture and American farming. Moreover, given his interest in science and nature and state sponsored exploration (Lewis and Clark) he would have supported state sponsored RandD and the government grants to universities that we see today. Finally, I guess he would have loved in his enthusiastic manner, NASA and our convoluted efforts to explore and perhaps add Antartica to the Empire of Liberty.

Hamilton's view of the role of the state, what would be called the American System, emphasizes other public policy projects. That said, I wonder what these two founding fathers would say about the Bush/Obama stimulus, the Bush/Obama Farm Bills, the Bush/Obama policy on tariffs and on subsidy, the Bush/Obama war on drugs, poverty, immigration.



2. The locus of power within the state.

Well clearly Jefferson advocated at this stage, in theory, states over the national government. It is interesting that his thinking on this key issue "evolved" over time - think the Embargo Act, Louisiana Purchase, Land Ordinance Acts . . . and any number of policy activities that seem in alignment with Hamilton.

3. Federalism.

I see both agreeing on this fundamental element that is embedded within the constitution, although they might well disagree over the relative important of the legislature and executive branch. What is intriguing is that both agreed that the judiciary was of little importance. Clearly this changed over time and, as we will see when we read about Marshall (cousin and adversary to Jefferson) their notion of federalism evolved.

4. The size of the state.

This really seems to be a prime issue for discussion. The Coordination Problem posted a really key analysis on this issue referencing, what is apparently a well known James Buchanan teaching question -

If a fly was 9 times bigger that its current size, could it fly?

The associated question is then posed about the size of the government.