VIDEO: Your Next Government? From the Nation State to Stateless Nations

Since the early days of classical civilization, when (a notably imperfect form of) democracy was born, at least some people in the world have had an expectation that they should have a voice in the laws under which they live. As civilization grew and representative democracy became the norm rather than a rare exception, human beings everywhere began to demand a choice in their form of government.

Even within long-established countries, subgroups of citizens are working for more autonomy today. The Free State Project pioneers in New Hampshire and doing it one way, and others are agitating for California, for example, to be divided into three different states, or for Texas to become five states, or for Puerto Rico or the District of Columbia to have equal status to their 50 American cousins.

The idea that we can change our form of government is an increasingly realistic notion, and Professor Tom Bell of Chapman University lays out how people everywhere might go about it in his newest book, Your Next Government?: From the Nation State to Stateless Nations. Bell is an alumnus of the Cato Institute, but these days teaches legal theory and is an expert on common law and such charmingly niche topics like Third Amendment jurisprudence. In the video above, Bell points out how people around the world are acquiring, gradually and peacefully, greater autonomy over how they live.