Glossary
A ---> X + Y. Action A in pursuit of goal X will also produce side effects Y.
ABC weapons. Atomic, biological, and chemical weapons.
Accrual accounting. Method of calculating receipts and expenditures that tries to attribute them to the period in which they were actually earned or incurred rather than to the period in which payment was made.
Actions. Deliberate human motions whose chief significance is not the communication of ideas. Actions are not caused by antecedent conditions or events in the physical universe, but they may be limited by them.
Adversary process. In the American legal system the parties to a dispute are responsible for calling the court's attention to any facts and legal rules they consider relevant. Judges thus play a more passive role than in continental Europe, and the importance of adequate legal counsel for the parties is increased.
Agenda setting function. A few top leaders, political entrepreneurs, and journalists have basic power to decide, within certain limits, what issues will be thought about and discussed by the general public.
Aggregation of unanticipated consequences. Small side effects of individuals' actions may interact to produce dramatic, and often undesired, social results. Examples: the Great Depression; air pollution resulting from widespread use of private automobiles.
Amicus curia. "Friend of the court." A brief filed, in a lawsuit on appeal, by a non-litigant whose interests may be affected indirectly by the outcome of the case.
Anarchy. The absence of government.
Appellate jurisdiction. The power to review and reverse decisions made by lower courts.
Articles of Confederation. The constitution under which the U.S. was governed after the Revolutionary War until the present Constitution went into effect in 1789.
Assembly. The legislative branch of government under the proposed Metaconstitution. In the limiting case of a one-person Assembly, we refer instead to the legislator general.
Associational isotope. An association that has important differences from another that has been classified, based on important similarities, into the same category.
Association. The term used to describe the relationship when one person's net satisfaction is increased or decreased by another's actions.
Bill of attainder. A legislative command that sanctions be imposed on particular individuals without benefit of a judicial trial. Bills of attainder are prohibited by the U.S. Constitution.
Bill of Rights. The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Black market bureaucracy. Large-scale but quiet bribery of government officials who have discretionary power to confer things of value on people of their own choosing.
Board of Trustees. The head of government-as-trustee II in the proposed Metaconstitution.
Bodre. An acronym based on "board of directors resolution." A statement of the terms on which and with whom government-as- contractor is willing to enter into a voluntary association. Bodres are enforced by withdrawn or denied inducements, not by sanctions.
Bureaucracy. The most efficient known form of large-scale human organization, characterized by specialization, hierarchy, sharp distinction between official and personal status, and formality.
Busing. Requiring children to attend public schools other than those closest to their homes, for the purpose of bringing about racial balance.
Capital. A combination of materials (usually) and stored up labor, intended not to be consumed but to be used in additional production. Often considered one of three basic factors of production, along with "land" (resources) and labor.
Cash basis accounting. Method of calculating receipts and expenditures that looks only to when payment is actually made and does not seek to identify the period in which the good or service was actually enjoyed or performed.
Certificate of convenience and necessity. The government permission required to engage in certain kinds of business (common carrier trucking, commercial air passenger service, etc.) under the regulatory approach which has prevailed in the U.S. since the 1930s.
Certiorari. A writ, which the Supreme Court is free to give or withhold, ordering a lower court to send up the record of a case for review.
Checks and balances. Devices built into the Constitution requiring cooperation by more than one branch of government in order to do certain things. For example, presidential appointees to the Supreme Court take office only if the Senate gives its consent.
Civil case. A lawsuit, typically but not always between private parties, arising out of disputes over a contract, property ownership, or wrongful injuries inflected negligently or deliberately (torts).
Closed primary. A primary election in which voters can choose only among candidates seeking nomination by the party in which the voter has previously registered.
Cloture. A vote to limit debate, cutting off a filibuster in the Senate so that a vote on a bill can be taken. Cloture now requires support of 60% of the Senate, allowing 41 senators to block the "will of the majority."
Coexistence. When more than one person lives in the same place at the same time.
Collective bargaining. Appointment of a single agent to negotiate terms and conditions of employment with an employer on behalf of a group of employees.
Collective goods. Goods or services which can only be provided to some people by being provided to all. National defense against foreign aggressors, public health protection against epidemics, and pure air are often considered examples.
Commander-in-chief. The role of the president as head of the armed services, symbolizing America's tradition of "civilian supremacy."
Committees-on-committees. The small groups of Republicans and Democrats who pick the members of their respective parties who will serve on particular committees in the House and Senate. Common law. Rules of law distilled out of previous court decisions of similar cases and binding on future courts, everything else being equal, under the doctrine of stare decisis. Legislative acts (statutory law) supersede common law when the two are in conflict. Compound association. An association which has at least one governmental party and at least one non-governmental party; hence, neither private nor public. Communism. A vision of a future "classless" society in which there is no private property or government.
Conceptual acuity. The ability to distinguish between two or more concepts pointed to by the same or similar words.
Congeniality. Action well-calculated to maximize the satisfaction of a person other than the actor.
Conscription. A "draft." A manifestation (generally) of government-as-bandit, whereby some individuals are singled out and sanctions imposed on them unless they perform military service.
Constitutionalism. Government in accordance with the requirements of democracy and of the rule of law.
Contractor general. The chief executive under the proposed Metaconstitution ;the fundamental actual role of the U.S. president.
Coopetition. Conflict over how to divide up the benefits produced by cooperation. This is a fundamental process within voluntary associations.
Costs. What must be given up in order to get some desired thing. Represented by Y in the A ---> X + Y formulation.
Credentials society.A society such as modern U.S. where formal educational credentials are required before an individual is legally eligible for many different kinds of employment.
Criminal case.A lawsuit in which the defendant is prosecuted by government for allegedly violating rules laid down to protect the peace, order, and safety of the community.
Data bank.A proposed central computerized collection of facts about individuals which have been gathered by different agencies of government.
Democracy. Government by a few individuals limited by the people via periodic competitive elections.
Depreciation.An accrual accounting technique recognizing that plant and equipment (among other things) wear out with use and thus constitute expenses of doing business even in years when no cash is expended for them.
Deregulation. Reducing certain government regulations of industry in hopes that freer competition will improve service and lower costs to consumers.
Detente.A limited cooperation between rival countries to reduce the costs or damages of their conflicts.
Deterrence. The effort to prevent an unwanted action such as atomic attack, not by making it impossible, but by guaranteeing side effects such that ability to take the action will not be accompanied by willingness to do so.
Discharge petition. Procedure by which a bare majority (238 members) of the House of Representatives can force floor discussion of a bill that has been bottled up by a committee.
Disestablish.To take away a monopoly that has been exercised by a government organization.
Diversity of citizenship case.A civil case arising under state law but which can be brought in a federal District Court if citizens of different states are conflicting parties and $10,000 or more is at stake.
Double jeopardy.To try for a second time, on charges of the same criminal transaction, a person who has been acquitted. This is forbidden by the Constitution.
Electoral College.The name for the system whereby U.S. presidents are elected indirectly.
Eminent domain. The power to take private property for a public purpose without the consent of the owner which would constitute a sale. The U.S. Constitution qualifies this power by requiring that just compensation be paid for any property so taken.
Equal time, doctrine of.A requirement that radio and TV stations broadcasting campaign programs for a presidential candidate provide equal time for other candidates.
Equilibrium price.The theoretical price at which supply of an item equals demand and the market is "cleared."
Equity.A body of principles, administered in some cases by special courts, designed to "do justice" in cases in which applying the rules of common law produces results which appear unjust. In the U.S. equity cases generally are handled by the regular courts, but under somewhat different procedures than those used in cases at law. For example, the right to trial by jury does not exist in equity cases. Executive agreement.An agreement with a foreign country negotiated by a president on his own authority and not subject to the senatorial consent required for treaties.
Executive Office of the President.A small group of agencies whose principal functions are to advise the president and to help him monitor and control other agencies of government. Included are such diverse operations as the White House Office, the CIA, the Council of Economic Advisors, the National Security Council, and the Office of Management and Budget.
Ex post facto law. Application of a rule to impose sanctions retroactively for an action which was not illegal when it was taken, or which then was subject to a lesser sanction.
Externalized costs. Costs of producing some good or service which, not borne by consumers of that good, are therefore not factors in their decisions about how much of it to consume.
Fabianism. A non-Marxist and democratic approach to socialism which originated in nineteenth-century England.
Factors of production. Basic elements or components required to produce things, abstractly conceived. The factors are usually listed as "land," labor, and capital. Entrepreneurship, a special form of labor, is sometimes singled out as a fourth factor. According to the present analysis, only "land" (scarce natural resources) and labor are basic factors.
Feudalism. A political-economic system in which rights to use land are exchanged for services rendered to superiors in a hierarchy.
Federalist. Papers A series of essays urging ratification of the new Constitution of 1787. Written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, the "papers" were published serially in New York newspapers under the pen name Publius.
Filibuster. An effort to prevent a bill from coming to a vote on the Senate floor by engaging in "unlimited debate."
Fiscal year. The 12-month period used for accounting purposes by a business, government, or other organization. Fiscal years need not begin on January 1, and often do not.
Gemeinschaft. A relationship between people that is valued for its own sake and not as a means to any further purposes. Concepts relevant to a gemeinschaft include family, friends (in a deep sense), and love.
Gerrymandering. Deliberate creation of election district boundaries that will maximize the number of members of one's own party elected to a legislature.
Gesellschaft. A relationship between individuals that is regarded as a means to other, more important ends.
Government-as-bandit. The bad aspect of government, which creates compound-involuntary associations by imposing sanctions on people who have not violated general rules of action. Its rules are here called pseudo-laws, to distinguish them from laws.
Government-as-contractor. The aspect of government that enters voluntary associations with non-governments (government-as- contractor I) and with other governments (government-as- contractor II)
Government-as-legislator. The aspect of government that makes and enforces general rules of action enforceable by sanctions (laws), creating a public-involuntary association.
Government-as-trustee. The aspect of government that unilaterally confers inducements on selected people (government- as-trustee I) or on the public (government-as-trustee II).
Government corporation. The third major form of government organization in the U.S., in addition to cabinet departments and independent regulatory agencies.
Gravy train ratio. The total number of government employees divided by the number of non-government employees whose taxes are available to support them.
Gross National Product. The price of the total goods and services produced for the exchange economy in a given year.
Habeas corpus. A court procedure whereby the legality of keeping somebody in government custody is scrutinized.
Hatch Act. A statute limiting the political activities of civil servants.
Head of government. The roles in which the president wields real power to make decisions on behalf of the government. The head of government in England, for example, is the prime minister.
Head of state. The role played by the president as ceremonial leader and symbol of the on-going political system. In England the head of state is the hereditary monarch.
Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. An effort to reconcile the hypothesis of the nuclear atom with the observed nature of the electrons which are supposedly one of its constituent particles. The principle asserts that it is impossible to ascertain both the specific location and the specific momentum of an electron orbiting around the nucleus. D. B. Larson, who challenges the nuclear model, restates the Heisenberg Principle jocularly: it is impossible to ascertain the qualities of nonexistent particles with great precision.
Homestead Act of 1862. Enactment which conveyed title to 160 acres of farmland to anyone who improved and cultivated it for a certain number of years.
Ideologist-in-chief. A government official whose principal job is to analyze policies and proposals for compatibility with some official body of principles. The U.S. has no such officer at present.
Impeachment. The "indictment" stage of the procedure whereby the president or a member of the Supreme Court can be removed from office. This stage takes place in the House of Representatives, whereas conviction takes place after a trial in the Senate.
Impossibility. (a) An action not available under present circumstances. (b) An action not available under any circumstances. (c) An available action whose side effects are so terrible that no conceivable benefits could be thought to justify them.
Impoundment. Refusal by a president to allow expenditure of money which has been appropriated by Congress.
Improvements. Things whose value does not entirely derive from natural resource scarcities, but includes a value added by labor. A fence, a wall, or a house constitute improvements on land. Henry George's proposed single tax applied only to the value of land, not to the value of improvements.
Incrementalism. The science of muddling through as opposed to comprehensive rationality. An interpretation of individual or organizational action in terms of seeking results which are good enough (satisficing) rather than best possible (maximizing).
Independent regulatory agency. An executive agency not directly controlled by the president, headed by a board whose members serve fixed terms and cannot be removed by the president at will, exercising "quasi-legislative" and "quasi-judicial" powers, and seeking through its regulations of private economic conduct to pursue objectives laid down by Congress.
Inducement. An action that increases another person's satisfaction above what it would have been if the actor took no action at all or did not even exist.
Inference. A conclusion about the unknown or unobservable based on the application of reasoning to what is known or observed. .
inflation. An increase in the average money price of everything; hence, a decrease in the purchasing power of each unit of money.
Institutional inertia. The tendency of institutions to remain the same over time, whether because of an equilibrium, deliberate efforts via recruitment and indoctrination, or force of habit.
Interest aggregation. Formulating policies that attempt to accommodate enough different interests to command the support of a working majority in a legislature or electorate. Political parties try to do this.
Interest articulation. Identifying a group with some interest in common and trying, on behalf of this group, to influence governmental actions accordingly.
Interstate compact. A legal agreement between two or more states, analogous to a treaty between countries. Under the Constitution, an interstate compact is valid only when Congress has consented to it.
Investment. Putting off a currently possible satisfaction in order to produce a greater futured satisfaction.
Involuntary asosciation. Any assosciation in which sanctions are threatened or imposed.
Involuntary servitude. A condition that is prohibited, along with slavery, by the Thirteenth Amendment. An exception is allowed for persons convicted of a crime. Exactly what constitutes involuntary servitude is not clear; the Supreme Court has ruled that military conscription does not.
Iron law of oligarchy. Power to make basic day-to-day decisions on behalf of any large organization gravitates into the hands of a few key individuals.
Jawboning. Government efforts to regulate prices, via the power of the pen, by telling people who charge or pay the "wrong" prices how naughty they are.
Justice in acquisition. Conditions that must be satisfied before previously unowned materials can be considered someone's property.
Justice in transfer. Conditions that must be satisfied before one person's property legitimately becomes another's.
Labor intensive production. A method of producing something that makes relatively great use of labor while using relatively little capital or materials.
Laws. General rules of action enforceable by sanctions.
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946. Set up the present committee structure of Congress and put restrictions on how many and what types of committees an individual member may sit on at one time.
Lesser evil. The least bad alternative available to us under given circumstances is the best thing we can do. Because of the unfortunate circumstances political leaders work within, the concept of a lesser evil is a very political one.
Liability. In accounting, money that is owed to another party but has not yet been paid.
Line agencies. Bureaucratic organizations responsible for actually providing or producing a good or service, in contrast to a stair agency that exists to gather information or advise top decision makers. The Department of Defense is basically a line agency; the National Security Council, a staff agency.
Loopholes. Exceptions which complicate the tax laws in order to protect or promote particular favored interests. Loyal opposition. A party that does not presently control thegovernment but that recognizes the current administration and tries to replace it by legal methods of appeal to the voters.
Mandate. What an electorate supposedly wants the victorious candidate to do once he takes office. Mandates are dubious whenever more than one consideration may have affected voters, which is most of the time.
Market-clearing price. The price at which supply of an item equals demand for it. This is also called the equilibrium price.
Market for votes. A concept explaining voting and campaign behavior by analogy to economic markets.
Materials. One of two basic factors of production, along with labor. Technically, materials used in production usually have value already added by the labor needed to bring them to the right place at the right time in the right form. In their pure form as a basic factor we can call them raw materials or "land."
Metaconstitution. A conception of an ideal government. When capitalized, the author's view of an ideal government.
Minor party. A third party in a two-party system. It is minor in the sense that its candidates have no chance of winning office. It may be far from minor as a sounding board for new ideas which, if they catch public fancy, are then stolen by one or both of the major parties.
Model I/Model II. Alternative views of human nature. Model I sees people as responsible free actors; Model 11 as complicated variations of billiard balls, incapable of exercising choice.
Monopoly. (a) A government-enforced guarantee that no other producer can compete to provide some good or service in a given area during a certain period. (b) Any producer with whom nobody is currently competing.
Morality. Rational action in pursuit of values such that one wants what he ought to want by some cosmic yardstick external to the individual and to his society.
Multinational corporation (MNC). A corporation that engages in producing goods or services in several countries simultaneously.
Net rents. The total value contributed to production by natural resource scarcities as distinguished from labor.
Nonassociation point. The level of one person's satisfaction when he is not associated with some specific other person by virtue of any actions taken by the latter.
NOSTAC. A nonstate actor in world affairs. Examples are: MNCS, terrorists, churches, etc.
Ombudsman. An official or organization created to investigate citizen complaints against a government bureaucracy and to assure that the citizen receives the treatment to which he is legally entitled.
OPEC. Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Organization. An association in which there is a continuing relationship among certain offices or roles that outlasts the individuals who occupy those offices.
Original jurisdiction. The power to try a case for the first time, as distinguished from the appellate jurisdiction or power to review a decision made by a lower court.
Paradigm. In the context of science, an overall view of things in terms of which particular experiences can be understood.
Plea-bargaining. In criminal cases, a practice whereby the accused pleads guilty to a less serious offense in return for the prosecutor's agreement not to prosecute on the more serious charge.
Plurality. The largest number of votes cast for any one candidate for a given office. Political entrepreneur A person (or organization) who organizes people with shared interests in order to put himself or a client into public office or to influence the decisions of people occupying such offices.
Political investment. Leadership actions that produce fewer immediate results than could otherwise be obtained, in order to get better circumstances within which to work in the future.
Pork barrel. A cooperation in which legislators vote for uneconomic projects benefiting constituents in a fellow legislator's district in return for his supporting equally inefficient programs in their districts.
Pragmatic regulation. The prevailing American approach to regulating the economy, in contrast to the more theoretically tidy alternative of laissez-faire ("deregulation") or of communism.
Pragmatism. A concern chiefly with the practical consequences of an action rather than with its conformity to principles.
Precedent. A rule of decision established by previous cases of the same type.
Price. A special kind of cost, in which something is not only given up in order to get something more desirable, but it is given up to some other person. A Robinson Crusoe can have costs, but prices exist only in associations.
Principle of rational ignorance. Actions in pursuit of information are rational only up to the point at which the costs of the additional information do not exceed its value.
Private association. One that is not a government and none of its parties is a government.
Progressive tax. A tax in which the percentage paid increases for people with greater incomes. With a flat rate tax, the person with twice as much income pays twice as much tax; with a progressive tax, more than twice as much.
Pseudo-laws (or "laws"). Any imposition of sanctions by a government other than for violation of a law.
Public. The set of all individuals subject to the jurisdiction of a given government.
Public association. One in which all of the parties are governments, or where the association itself is a government, or where the association is between a government and the public.
Public policy. This useful but dangerously ambiguous expression may refer to (a) A law. (b) A bodre. (c) An objective pursued by a government.
R ---> X + Y. Rules enacted or observed in pursuance of goal X also produce side effects Y. The expression for wholesale decision-making.
Rational action. One well-calculated to maximize the actor's net satisfaction under the circumstances.
Rationality of irrationality. The effort to convince another actor that one will take an action that is mutually disastrous rather than capitulate.
Recidivist. A person who commits a particular crime again.
Referendum. Submission of proposed legislation for a direct decision by the electorate.
Revolution of rising expectations. The increased dissatisfaction resulting from a period of increasing attainments during which desires have been increasing even faster.
The rule of law. A principle asserting that sanctions should be imposed only on people who have violated a general rule of action laid down in advance.
S ---> X + Y. Speech uttered in pursuit of goal X also produces side effects Y The expression for rational action as applied to communications, it is also an abstract definition of lies.
Sampling theory. A branch of mathematics indicating what number of randomly chosen individuals must be surveyed in order to ascertain the characteristics of a larger universe with a given degree of precision.
Sanction. An action that leaves another person's satisfaction lower than it would have been if the actor had done nothing at all or did not exist.
Satisfaction. The ratio of a person's perceived attainments to desires: S = Ap/D.
Satisficing. Taking the first adequate alternative action discovered, rather than search- ing for an action that will maximize attainments.
Second strike capacity. The ability to destroy an enemy even after it has, by striking first, destroyed a good deal of one's own military capacity.
Senatorial courtesy. A practice whereby the Senate refuses to confirm a presidential appointment to a federal office if a Senator from the state in which the officer will work voices personal objections to the candidate.
Serendipate. To do the right thing for the wrong reasons.
Short ballot. A system in which voters choose only a few top leaders and all other top officials are appointed.
Simplification. A philosophical strategy enabling us to cope with complexities that might otherwise overwhelm us. A political strategy conducive both to maximization of real democratic control over government and to the rule of law.
Single member district. A constituency sending only one member, rather than a delegation, to a representative body.
Single tax. Henry George's proposal to raise all government revenues by one tax, which would capture the full "rental" value of unimproved land.
Seniority. The length of time that a person has held a certain position. In Congress, this may affect eligibility to become a committee member or chairman; in the civil service it governs eligibility for promotions, demotions, and lay-offs.
Situation ethics. The belief that an action's rightness or wrongness may depend on the circumstances within which it is taken.
Social contract theory. The view that government is, ought to be, or acts as if it were a voluntary association growing out of an agreement to which everybody consented.
Social dividend. A periodic payment, by government-as-trustee II, of an equal sum of money to every member of the public. The dividend would come from a trust fund chiefly accruing from auction of temporary rights to use scarce natural resources.
Socialization. The processes by which children and young adults learn how they are expected to behave in order to fit into society from those in their environment--"parents, priests, pedagogues, and peers"--and from the mass media.
Social ordering. The organizational analogy to an individual's values in terms of which he chooses among alternative possible actions.
Span of control. The number of individuals whose work one person can personally, directly, and effectively supervise.
Specific performance. A court ordered remedy in a contract dispute in which the defendant is ordered to do what he is found to have agreed to do. The alternative to specific performance may be an order to pay money damages.
Staff agencies. Agencies that help a top leader control other agencies rather than administering public programs directly.
Standard operating procedures. Particular actions that a large organization has been prepared to undertake if called upon to do so.
Stare decisis. "Let the decision stand." The common law rule that cases that are similar to a precedent should be decided the same way.
"Statute" of historical limitations. The idea that it is perverse to try to provide restitution for evils that were inflicted on previous generations.
Tax structure. The extent to which total revenues come via one tax rather than others. Tax structure is a separate issue from tax levels or total government receipts.
Theory of the second best. Improving one element of an imperfect situation can worsen the total situation.
Ticket-balancing. Choosing a vice presidential candidate from the wing of a party that has lost the presidential nomination. The objective of balancing is to broaden the appeal and win votes for the party's presidential candidate.
Tort. A wrongful action, other than breach of contract, that inflicts harm on another for which he can get a court to order the wrong-doer to pay compensation.
Tragedy of the commons. If everybody has unlimited freedom to take natural resources that are collectively owned, the total takings may overwhelm the carrying capacity of the environment and destroy the processes by which renewable resources replace themselves.
Transfer payments. Payment of funds, extracted forcibly from one part of the population, to a different group of people, in an effort to redistribute purchasing power within the society.
Trust association. Any association in which inducements are conferred unilaterally on another person.
Trust fund. Would receive "net rents" resulting from auction of temporary rights to exploit scarce natural resources, taxes paid by governments, and fees paid for temporary monopoly privileges. Disbursed via social dividend.
Truth in Lending Act. A federal law trying to encourage comparison shopping for loans by forcing lenders to disclose the actual cost of borrowing money according to a standard formula.
Types of power--Pen, purse, sword. The power of the pen is the power of pure persuasion or of manipulation. The power of the purse is that of inducements, and the power of the sword is that of sanctions.
Underground economy. Production whose value does not appear in calculations of the gross national product because it has been concealed in order to avoid payment of taxes or because the transactions themselves are illegal.
Unicameralism. Having a legislature with only one house, as in the state of Nebraska, as distinguished from the more usual bicameralism.
Utopia. A concept of a perfect society.
Value. The amount that someone would be willing to give up (cost or price), if necessary, in order to get some desired thing.
Voluntary association. Exchange or transfer of inducements or expected inducements by mutual consent of the parties.
Voucher system. Refers to proposals to issue to all school children certificates that can be used to pay for attending any school, public or private, chosen by their parents, rather than directing taxpayers' money straight to the public schools and forcing those whose children attend private schools to carry a double burden of tuition on top of taxes.
Wholesale contracting. When government, instead of doing a job "in house," using government employees, subcontracts a whole task to a private firm.
Wholesale taxes. Taxes paid by individuals as part of the price of goods and services purchased from private persons and associations rather than paid directly to government.
