When citizen consent is limited to elections, institutions that look democratic can operate like disciplined clubs, which is why elite circulation and oligarchic drift need counterweights. Two classic blueprints for political organization still shape local government. John Locke’s account of democracy treats office as a revocable trust grounded in majority consent and limited powers. Vladimir… Continue reading Locke, Lenin, and Local Power: Claremont’s Test of Consent
Tag: history
SCGOP News Update
Introduction & context: the fight re‑ignites For decades, New Hampshire’s education funding regime has been controversial: the state provides a base adequacy subsidy per pupil (statutorily determined), while the bulk of school costs fall to local property taxpayers. Carsey School+2NH Journal+2 Recently, the state Supreme Court confirmed that the current base appropriations are constitutionally deficient… Continue reading SCGOP News Update
The Dumbest Meme Ever
There are very few memes that are as dumb and insulting as this one. It works because people conflate Antifa with being antifascist and therefore being pro-democracy, albeit while having a very hazy notion of what the term democracy means. An old friend, whom I have known for more than half a century, posted this… Continue reading The Dumbest Meme Ever
The Liquidation of the Kulaks and the Politics of Redistribution: An Ethical Comparison
The Kulaks and Stalinist Redistribution In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Joseph Stalin initiated a campaign against the so-called kulaks—peasants accused of being wealthier than their neighbors. The label itself was fluid; it could encompass anyone who owned a few more cows or harvested a little more grain than the village average. The state… Continue reading The Liquidation of the Kulaks and the Politics of Redistribution: An Ethical Comparison
Vouchers and the Vision of the Un-Anointed: A Rebuttal to Andru Volinsky
by Kevin Tyson Introduction In his polemical essay against school vouchers, Andru Volinsky trades on well-worn tropes: that public education is a pillar of democracy, that vouchers threaten social equity, and that the Civil Rights Movement should be invoked to shield the status quo. Yet this rhetorical sleight-of-hand obscures deeper truths. Public education in America… Continue reading Vouchers and the Vision of the Un-Anointed: A Rebuttal to Andru Volinsky
Against Term Limits: Liberty Requires Vigilance, Not Automation
By: Kevin Tyson An Appeal to Conservatives and Classical Liberals In the American political imagination, term limits are often portrayed as a structural solution to corruption, elitism, and the inertia of entrenched power. For many on the center-right, they symbolize a necessary check against career politicians and the professionalization of governance. Yet beneath the intuitive… Continue reading Against Term Limits: Liberty Requires Vigilance, Not Automation
The Sullivan County NH Republican Committee 