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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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
By What Standard?
by R. J. Rushdoony
from Chalcedon / Ross House Books
in Presuppositional Apologetics (Location: XAP-PRE)
$14.00
City of God
Penguin Classics
by Augustine of Hippo (translated by Henry Bettenson)
from Penguin Classics
Ancient/Medieval Theology for 11th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$18.00
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
Communist Manifesto
Penguin Classics
by Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels
from Penguin Classics
Political Philosophy for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$8.00
Communist Manifesto
by Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels
from Signet Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$5.95
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
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
Ideas Have Consequences
by Richard M. Weaver
Expanded Edition from University of Chicago
for Adult
in Christianity and the State (Location: XWV-STA)
$18.00
Intellectual Schizophrenia
by R. J. Rushdoony
from Chalcedon / Ross House Books
in Philosophy (Location: XWV-PHI)
$14.50 $12.00 (1 in stock)
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
Leviathan
Penguin Classics
by Thomas Hobbes
from Penguin Classics
Political Philosophy for 11th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$13.00
Lex Rex
by Samuel Rutherford, introduction by Douglas Wilson
from Canon Press
for 11th-Adult
in Christianity and the State (Location: XWV-STA)
$17.95
Mock Trial Notebook
from Classical Conversations
for 7th-9th grade
in Speech & Debate (Location: SPEECH)
$12.50
Naked Communist
by W. Cleon Skousen
from Albatross Publishers
for 11th-Adult
in Law & Political Theory (Location: GOV-LAW)
$19.99
New Road to Serfdom
by Daniel Hannan
from HarperTrophy
for Adult
in Law & Political Theory (Location: GOV-LAW)
$17.50
Noble Savages
by Rousas John Rushdoony
from Chalcedon / Ross House Books
for Adult
in Sexual Sin (Location: XCL-SEX)
$18.00
On the Social Contract
by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
from Dover Publications
Philosophy for 9th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$5.00
One and the Many
by R. J. Rushdoony
from Chalcedon / Ross House Books
for 11th-Adult
in Philosophy (Location: XWV-PHI)
$26.00
Political Thought
by Hunter Baker
from Crossway Books
for 10th-Adult
in Law & Political Theory (Location: GOV-LAW)
$8.00
Politics
by Aristotle
from Dover Publications
Ancient Greek Political Philosophy for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$7.00
Practical View of Christianity
by William Wilberforce
from Hendrickson Publishers
Religion/Philosophy for 11th-Adult
in Hendrickson Christian Classics (Location: XCL-DEV)
$12.95 $6.00 (2 in stock)
Prince, The
Penguin Classics
by Niccolò Machiavelli
from Penguin Classics
Political Philosophy for 11th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$8.00
Prince, The
Dover Thrift Editions
by Niccolo Machiavelli
from Dover Publications
Political Philosophy for 11th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$4.00
Reflections on the Revolution in France
Penguin Classics
by Edmund Burke
from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$14.00
Republic
Dover Thrift Editions
by Plato
from Dover Publications
Ancient Philosophy/Utopian Literature for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$5.00
Rights of Man, Common Sense
by Thomas Paine
from Oxford University
for 10th grade-adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$11.95
Road to Serfdom
by F. A. Hayek
from University of Chicago
for Adult
in Law & Political Theory (Location: GOV-LAW)
$17.00
Second Treatise of Civil Government
by John Locke
from Prometheus Books
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$12.99
Second Treatise of Civil Government
by John Locke
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$5.00
Selected Works of Cicero
Penguin Classics
by Cicero
from Penguin Classics
Ancient Roman Philosophy for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$17.00
Slaying Leviathan
from Canon Press
for Adult
in Christianity and the State (Location: XWV-STA)
$15.95
Social Contract
Penguin Classics
by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
from Penguin Classics
Philosophy/Politics for 10th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$11.00
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
Trial and Death of Socrates
Dover Thrift Editions
by Plato
from Dover Publications
Ancient Philosophy for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$4.00 $2.00 (1 in stock)
Truth Overruled
by Ryan T. Anderson
from Regnery Publishing, Inc.
for Adult
in Culture & Discernment (Location: XCU-DIS)
$14.50
Two Treatises of Government
by John Locke
from Tuttle Publishing
Political Philosophy for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$9.95
Two Treatises of Government
by John Locke
3rd edition from Cambridge University
Political Philosophy for 10th-Adult
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
$19.99
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)
Wealth of Nations
by Adam Smith
from Bantam Books
for 10th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$9.99