Governance—a system of privately created rules and means of enforcement—can emerge without government; a punishment one voluntarily agreed to ex ante (even violent punishment by a third party like the quartermaster) is governance rather than coercion, distinguishing voluntary self-governance from a non-contractual 'social contract.'

definitionpending

Speaker

Peter Leeson

Evidence Quote

nobody is arguing we don't need rules and we don't need methods of enforcement the issue is how do these things emerge and... are they voluntarily agreed to ex ante or not

Source

Peter Leeson on Pirates and the Invisible Hook 05/25/2009EconTalk
Created: 6/17/2026, 10:31:31 AM

My Notes

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