Libertarianism.org

Unbundling the State (with Jason Kuznicki)

Free Thoughts Podcast – 53 min 50 sec – Apr 19, 2019 – Episode 288 of 327

Jason Kuznicki discusses how the problem of political authority has evolved over time from a classical liberal perspective. 

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Jason Kuznicki joins us again to discuss the problem of political authority. His new book, Technology and the End of Authority: What is Government For?, examines the relationship between the state and technology over time. Technological developments may make the state more or less necessary over time, which is a consideration that is relatively new in the history of political philosophy, but increasingly important.

What is the state? What is a nation? What is the difference between ‘the state’ and government? Why do libertarians oppose coercion? How has the state evolved over time? What is the ‘bundle theory’ of the state?

Further Reading:

Technology and the End of Authority: What is Government For?, written by Jason Kuznicki

Max Weber’s Theory of the Modern State, written by Andreas Anter

The Republic, written by Plato

Related Content:

Recognizing the State for What It Is, written by Aaron Ross Powell

Understanding the Modern State, written by David S. D’Amato

Private Lives and Public Education, written by Jason Kuznicki

Aaron Ross Powell

Aaron Ross Powell is Director and Editor of Libertarianism.org, a project of the Cato Institute. Libertarianism.org presents introductory material as well as new scholarship related to libertarian philosophy, theory, and history. He is also co-host of Libertarianism.org’s popular podcast, Free Thoughts. His writing has appeared in Liberty and The Cato Journal. He earned a JD from the University of Denver.

Paul Matzko

Paul Matzko is the Assistant Editor for Tech and Innovation at Libertarianism.org. He received a PhD in History from Pennsylvania State University in 2016. He has a forthcoming book with Oxford University Press titled The Radio Right, which details the John F. Kennedy administration’s successful efforts to censor Right-wing radio broadcasters in the 1960s. He has published articles with Presidential Studies Quarterly and Fides et Historia.

Jason Kuznicki

Jason Kuznicki has facilitated many of the Cato Institute’s international publishing and educational projects. He is editor of Cato Unbound, and his ongoing interests include censorship, church-state issues, and civil rights in the context of libertarian political theory. He was an Assistant Editor of Encyclopedia of Libertarianism. Prior to working at the Cato Institute, he served as a Production Manager at the Congressional Research Service. Kuznicki earned a Ph.D. in history from Johns Hopkins University in 2005, where his work was offered both a Fulbright Fellowship and a Chateaubriand Prize.