De Jasay's book does an excellent job punctuating the arguments typically used to justify the state.  He shows the absurdity of contractariansim (if the state is necessary to enforce contracts, then how did the state make a  contract with the people for its establishment?).  His essay "Is  Limited Government Possible?" is an excellent tonic for those  libertarians who feel that the state can be effectively constrained by a  constitution.  In addition to the problem of enforcement, de Jasay  highlights the disturbing tendency of the state to expand indefinitely as  an increasingly smaller majority is necessary to exploit an increasingly  larger minority (culminating in democracy where a coalition of 50+1 gets to  exploit the remaining 49.9).  He also demonstrates the flaws of adopting  loose limitations on government action (for instance, if governement is  supposed to promote fairness, who defines "fairness"?)  The  second part of the book highlights the functioning of social institutions  and conventions that existed prior to governement and evolved independently  of the state, strengthening the conclusion that people can lead peaceful,  fulfilling lives without the state.  I would have given this book five  stars, except that it suffers from the same defect as most treatises of  academic philosophy in that his writing style is often a bit dry.

Against Politics: On Government, Anarchy and Order (Routledge Studies in Social and Political Thought) PDF

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