Skip to main content
![Creative Commons 'BY-SA' version 4.0 license]()
The Minarchist’s Dilemma: How Status Preferences Undermine Libertarian Political Stability
Abstract
A minarchist conception of government prohibits levying taxes to fund redistributive insti- tutions and programs. This dissertation argues that due to ubiquitous preferences people hold for higher social status, no minarchist view is compatible with strong and uncompro- mising libertarian rights under an enduring social contract. Libertarians can embrace the redistributive state, or defend anarchy, but cannot justify the stable “minimal state.”