The Cost of Rights: Why Liberty Depends on Taxes

by Stephen Holmes, Cass R. Sunstein

Overview

To "fight for your rights," or anyone else's, is not just to debate principles but to haggle over budgets.

The simple insight that all legally enforceable rights cost money reminds us that freedom is not violated by a government that taxes and spends, but requires it—and requires a citizenry vigilant about how money is allocated. Drawing from these practical, commonsense notions, The Cost of Rights provides a useful corrective to the all-or-nothing feel of much political debate nowadays (The Economist).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393344325
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	03/12/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	505 KB

About the Author

Stephen Holmes teaches political science at Princeton University and New York University Law School.
Cass R. Sunstein teaches law and political science at the University of Chicago.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	9
	Introduction: Common Sense about Rights	13
Part I	Why a Penniless State Cannot Protect Rights
Chapter 1	All Rights Are Positive	35
Chapter 2	The Necessity of Government Performance	49
Chapter 3	No Property without Taxation	59
Chapter 4	Watchdogs Must Be Paid	77
Part II	Why Rights Cannot Be Absolutes
Chapter 5	How Scarcity Affects Liberty	87
Chapter 6	How Rights Differ from Interests	99
Chapter 7	Enforcing Rights Means Distributing Resources	113
Chapter 8	Why Tradeoffs Are Inescapable	118
Part III	Why Rights Entail Responsibilities
Chapter 9	Have Rights Gone Too Far?	135
Chapter 10	The Unselfishness of Rights	152
Chapter 11	Rights as a Response to Moral Breakdown	162
Part IV	Understanding Rights as Bargains
Chapter 12	How Religious Liberty Promotes Stability	175
Chapter 13	Rightsholders as Stakeholders	189
Chapter 14	Welfare Rights and the Politics of Inclusion	204
	Conclusion: The Public Character of Private Freedoms	220
Appendix	Some Numbers on Rights and Their Costs	233
	Notes	237
	Index	247