Your Next Government?
From the Nation State to Stateless Nations

Your Next Government? From the Nation State to Stateless Nations reveals the revolution quietly transforming governments bottom-up, inside-out, worldwide.

Tom W. Bell (Author)

9781316613924, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 12 October 2017

268 pages, 12 b/w illus.
23.4 x 16.3 x 1.7 cm, 0.43 kg

'Tom W. Bell is the expert in new legal systems for new governments, and his book provides a perfect combination of theory, practice, and enthusiasm to make competitive governance seem not only vital for human betterment, but also a fun adventure.' Brian Doherty, author of Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement

Governments across the globe have begun evolving from lumbering bureaucracies into smaller, more agile special jurisdictions - common-interest developments, special economic zones, and proprietary cites. Private providers increasingly deliver services that political authorities formerly monopolized, inspiring greater competition and efficiency, to the satisfaction of citizens-qua-consumers. These trends suggest that new networks of special jurisdictions will soon surpass nation states in the same way that networked computers replaced mainframes. In this groundbreaking work, Tom W. Bell describes the quiet revolution transforming governments from the bottom up, inside-out, worldwide, and how it will fulfill its potential to bring more freedom, peace, and prosperity to people everywhere.

Introduction: from dinosaurs to chickens
Part I. Facts: 1.1. The most valuable thing in the world?
1.2. Revolution, inside-out, bottom-up, world-wide
1.3. Special jurisdictions in the United States
1.4. Case study 1: Fordlandia
1.5. Case study 2: Honduran REDs and ZEDEs
1.6. Case study 3: Seasteads
Part II. Theory: 2.1. The center of the law
2.2. Why consent to consent?
2.3. Up the ladder of consent
2.4. Forget it is a constitution
Part III. Practice: 3.1. Best practices in governing services
3.2. Abolish governmental immunity
3.3. Citizen courts
3.4. From orphaned cities to shared communities
3.5. Double democracy
3.6. United States special economic zones (USSEZs)
3.7. Ulex: An Open Source Legal Operating System
3.8. Stories of the sort ordinarily recounted over drinks
Conclusion: from smart governments, gold swans
Appendix 1: worldwide census of SEZs and similar zones
Appendix 2: economics of monopolies in governing services
Appendix 3: Ulex Open Source Legal Operating System Version 1.0 (2016).

Subject Areas: Constitutional & administrative law [LND], Public international law [LBB], Comparative law [LAM], Law [L], Constitution: government & the state [JPHC]