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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American Cause
for Adult
in Law & Political Theory (Location: GOV-LAW)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Challenge to Liberty
by Herbert Hoover
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Communist Manifesto
Penguin Classics
by Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels
from Penguin Classics
Political Philosophy for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Evolution of Political Thought
by C. Northcote Parkinson
First Printing from Houghton Mifflin
for Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
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
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)
How Would a Patriot Act?
by Glen Greenwald
from Working Assets Publishing
for Adult
in Government & Civics Resources (Location: GOV-REF)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Intellectual Schizophrenia
by R. J. Rushdoony
from Chalcedon / Ross House Books
in Philosophy (Location: XWV-PHI)
$14.50 $12.00 (1 in stock)
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
from Laissez Faire Books
for 9th-Adult
in Law & Political Theory (Location: GOV-LAW)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Law of War and Peace
by Hugo Grotius, translated by Louise R. Loomis, Introduction by P.E. Corbett
from Walter J. Black, Inc.
for Adult
in Walter J. Black Classics Club (Location: VIN-LITWJB)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Limits of Power
by Andrew J. Bacevich
1st edition from Henry Holt and Company
for Adult
in Law & Political Theory (Location: GOV-LAW)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
On the Medieval Origins of the Modern State
by Joseph R. Strayer
2nd edition from Princeton University Press
for Adult
in Philosophy (Location: XWV-PHI)
$8.50 (1 in stock)
Original Intent
by David Barton
3rd from WallBuilder Press
for 11th-Adult
in Law & Political Theory (Location: GOV-LAW)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Original Intent
by David Barton
3rd from WallBuilder Press
for 11th-Adult
in Law & Political Theory (Location: GOV-LAW)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
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
by Niccolò Machiavelli (translation by Harvey C. Mansfield)
from University of Chicago
Political Philosophy for 11th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Selected Works of Cicero
by Cicero
from Walter J. Black, Inc.
Ancient Roman Philosophy for 10th-Adult
in Walter J. Black Classics Club (Location: VIN-LITWJB)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Student's Guide to Political Philosophy
by Harvey C. Mansfield
from Intercollegiate Studies Institute
for 9th-12th grade
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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)
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 About Socialism for Smart Kids
by Ralph Payne, illustrated by Elle Solovino
from Chihuahua Books
for 2nd-4th grade
in Law & Political Theory (Location: GOV-LAW)
$6.50 (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)
What is Political Philosophy?
by Leo Strauss
from University of Chicago
for Adult
in Philosophy (Location: XWV-PHI)
$13.00 (1 in stock)
What Would the Founders Do?
by Richard Brookhiser
from Basic Books
for 10th-Adult
in Law & Political Theory (Location: GOV-LAW)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
World Communism: A Critical Review
by Michael Loyd Chadwick (editor), Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
from Global Affairs Publishing Co.
for Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$10.00 (1 in stock)