Law & Political Theory

Ungoverned man will eventually get up to no good. The ancient Greeks understood this, but apparently failed to see that self-governed man is often not much better. Except, of course, for Aristotle and Plato. Aristotle claimed the ideal government (or constitution, as he called it) is a benevolent monarchy in which the king rules according to the needs and desires of the people. His teacher, Plato, opted for a whole group of philosopher-kings as heads of a communal society dependent on cooperation and education for its success. Man has discussed and tried to implement a variety of "utopias" ever since.

According to St. Paul, the purpose of government is to uphold good and punish evil. Usually we assume government's purpose is to take money from people who need it and give it to people who don't, in which case it's doing the opposite of what it should. But political theory debates are often not about what government should do, as in how it should do it.

A poorly run government will have unhappy and possibly revolutionary citizens. The solution is not to make the people happy, however, but to learn to govern well.This is typically the nature of political theory in its philosophical and ethical context—what method of rule will work best, given the typical behavior of mankind? Christians know that proper government must adhere to biblical principles, even if it doesn't specifically acknowledge them to be such. We can't let pragmatism and emotional feeling misdirect us from the pursuit of a truly godly and well-governed society.

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Active Filters: 9th grade (Ages 14-15)
All About Courts and the Law
All About Books #54
by Ruth Brindze
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates
Signet Classics
by Patrick Henry & John DeWitt
from Signet Classics
American Political Philosophy for 9th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$7.95
Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates
by Patrick Henry & John DeWitt
from Dover Publications
American Political Philosophy for 9th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$6.00
Common Sense
Dover Thrift Editions
by Thomas Paine
from Dover Publications
Political Philosophy for 9th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$4.00
Common Sense
Dover Thrift Editions
by Thomas Paine
from Living Book Press
Political Philosophy for 9th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
Essential American
by Jackie Gingrich Cushman
from Regnery Publishing, Inc.
for 9th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$15.00
Federalist Papers
Signet Classics
by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison & John Jay
from Signet Classics
American Political Philosophy for 9th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$7.95
Federalist Papers
Dover Thrift series
by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison & John Jay
from Dover Publications
American Political Philosophy for 9th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$7.00
Five Dialogues of Plato
by Plato, translated by G.M.A. Grube, revised by John M. Cooper
2nd edition from Hackett Publishing Company
Ancient Philosophy for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Five Great Dialogues of Plato
by Plato
2nd edition from Walter J. Black, Inc.
Ancient Philosophy for 9th-Adult
in Walter J. Black Classics Club (Location: VIN-LITWJB)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Gorgias
Penguin Classics
by Plato
from Penguin Classics
Ancient Philosophy for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$10.00
Gorgias
Oxford World's Classics
by Plato
from Oxford University
Ancient Philosophy for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$8.95 $6.00 (2 in stock)
Great Dialogues of Plato
Signet Classics
by Plato
from Signet Classics
Ancient Philosophy for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$6.95
Keys to Good Government
by David Barton
2nd edition from WallBuilder Press
for 7th-12th grade
in Law & Political Theory (Location: GOV-LAW)
$4.95
Last Days of Socrates
Penguin Classics
by Plato
from Penguin Classics
Ancient Philosophy for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$14.00
Law
by Frederic Bastiat
2nd edition from FEE
for 9th-Adult
in Law & Political Theory (Location: GOV-LAW)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Law
by Frederic Bastiat
2nd edition from CreateSpace
for 9th-Adult
in Law & Political Theory (Location: GOV-LAW)
Law
by Frederic Bastiat
from Laissez Faire Books
for 9th-Adult
in Law & Political Theory (Location: GOV-LAW)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Mock Trial Notebook
from Classical Conversations
for 7th-9th grade
in Speech & Debate (Location: SPEECH)
$12.50
On the Social Contract
by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
from Dover Publications
Philosophy for 9th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$5.00
Politics
by Aristotle
from Dover Publications
Ancient Greek Political Philosophy for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$7.00
Republic
Dover Thrift Editions
by Plato
from Dover Publications
Ancient Philosophy/Utopian Literature for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$5.00
Student's Guide to American Political Thought
by George W. Carey
1st edition from Intercollegiate Studies Institute
for 9th-12th grade
$12.99
Student's Guide to Political Philosophy
by Harvey C. Mansfield
from Intercollegiate Studies Institute
for 9th-12th grade
$8.00 $5.50 (1 in stock)
Student's Guide to the Study of Law
by Gerard V. Bradley
1st edition from Intercollegiate Studies Institute
for 9th-12th grade
$8.00
Team of Rivals
by Doris Kearns Goodwin
from Simon and Schuster
for 9th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
U.S. Supreme Court
by Linda Greenhouse
from Oxford University
for 9th-Adult
in Government & Civics Resources (Location: GOV-REF)
$11.95 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Whatever Happened to Justice?
by Richard Maybury
2nd edition from Bluestocking Press
for 9th-Adult
in Uncle Eric books (Location: ECON-ERIC)
$17.95