The ‘minimal’ state reconsidered: governance on the margin

J. R. Clark () and Benjamin Powell ()
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J. R. Clark: The University of Tennessee
Benjamin Powell: Texas Tech University

The Review of Austrian Economics, 2019, vol. 32, issue 2, No 4, 119-130

Abstract: Abstract Classical liberal scholars have defined a “minimal state” as performing certain basic functions that include the provision of policing, courts, and national defense. We argue that these functions need not be fully provided by the state. Private provision of all three of these functions exists. Thus a truly minimal state would provide these functions only on the margins where private provision fails. Thus, a truly minimal state is much more minimal than scholars have traditionally envisioned.

Keywords: Minimal state; Private provision of public goods; Taxation; Welfare (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H11 H21 H44 P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1007/s11138-017-0400-5

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