ABSTRACT
The effective limitation of power is the most important problem of social order. Government is indispensable for the formation of such an order only to protect all against coercion and violence from others. But as soon as, to achieve this, government successfully claims the monopoly of coercion and violence, it becomes also the chief threat to individual freedom. The exercise of the power of a representative democracy beyond the range where voters can comprehend the significance of its decisions can correspond to (or be controlled by) the opinion of the majority of the people only if in all its coercive measures government is confined to rules which apply equally to all members of the community. While legislation proper is a matter of long-run principles and not particular interests, all particular measures which government may take must become issues of day-to-day politics.
