TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Figures and Tables vii
List of Contributors viii Preface x

1. Faustian Bargains and Constitutional Governance

page 1

Donald P. Racheter and Richard E. Wagner

PART ONE: WHY SHOULD GOVERNMENT BE LIMITED?

2. The Purpose and Limits of Government

page 13

Roger Pilon

3. Constitutionally-limited Government Versus Popular Democracy

page 38

William C. Mitchell

4. Government: An Expensive Provider

page 56

William S. Peirce

PART TWO: WHICH LIMITS ON GOVERNMENT ARE

APPROPRIATE?

5. Constitutional Limits Versus Statutory Rules

page 77

Randy T. Simmons

6. Constitutional Spending Limitations and the Optimal Size of Government

page 96

Richard K. Vedder and Lowell E. Gallaway

7. Tax Limits

page 115

Randall G. Holcombe

8. Regulatory Limits

page 140

Eugenia F. Toma

9. The Case for Congressional Term Limits is the Same as the Case for Pollution Control

page 161

Dwight R. Lee

10. Electoral Limits

page 176

Gary M. Anderson

PART THREE: ARE AUXILIARY PRECAUTIONS NEEDED?

11. Federalist Theory and Polycentricity: Learning from Local Governments

page 203

Robert L. Bish

12. Searching for Order: The Costly Interaction of Formal and Informal Systems

page 221

Bruce Yandle

13. Technological and Economic Limitations on Governments

page 238

Richard B. McKenzie

Index 257

List of Figures and Tables

Figures

3.1 Constitutions and Pareto Improvements

page 53

6.1 State and Local Spending as a % of GDP, 1946—93

page 101

6.2 The Armey Curve: Government Spending and National Output

page 103

Tables

6.1 Growth in American Government, 1902—93

page 100

6.2 Statistical Estimation of the Armey Curve

page 111

6.3 The Optimal and Actual Size of Government

page 112

Contributors

Donald P. Racheter is Executive Director of Public Interest Institute and Professor of Political Science at Central College, Pella, Iowa.

Richard E. Wagner is Chairman of Public Interest Institute’s Academic Advisory Board and Professor of Economics, Center for the Study of Public Choice at George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia.

Roger Pilon is Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute, Washington, D.C.

William C. Mitchell is a member of Public Interest Institute’s Academic Advisory Board and Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon.

William S. Peirce is a member of Public Interest Institute’s Academic Advisory Board and Professor of Economics, Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.

Randy T. Simmons is a member of Public Interest Institute’s Academic Advisory Board and Professor of Political Science at Utah State University, Logan, Utah.

Richard K. Vedder is a member of Public Interest Institute’s Academic Advisory Board and Distinguished Professor of Economics at Ohio University, Athens, Ohio.

Lowell E. Gallaway is Distinguished Professor of Economics at Ohio University, Athens, Ohio.

Randall G. Holcombe is DeVoe Moore Professor of Economics at Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida.

Eugenia F. Toma is a member of Public Interest Institute’s Academic Advisory Board and Professor of Economics and Director of the Martin School of Public Administration at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky.

Dwight R. Lee is Bernard B. and Eugenia A. Ramsey Professor of Economics at the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.

Gary M. Anderson is Professor of Economics at California State University, Northridge, California.

Robert L. Bish is a member of Public Interest Institute’s Academic Advisory Board and Director of the Local Government Institute and Professor of Public Administration and Economics, School of Public Administration at the University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Bruce Yandle is a member of Public Interest Institute’s Academic Advisory Board and Alumni Distinguished Professor of Economics and Legal Studies at Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina.

Richard B. McKenzie is a member of Public Interest Institute’s Academic Advisory Board and Walter B. Gerken Professor of Enterprise and Society, Graduate School of Management at University of California, Irvine, California.