Document Type

Article

Disciplines

International Law

Abstract

Some of our most salient political debates turn on how we compare freedoms. Is the United States the freest country in the world? If not, which countries are freer? Do Eastern Europeans have more or less liberty, now that they are governed by non-Communists? Does a successful struggle for independence give a nation more freedom than it had under foreign rule? Would a proposed law, such as one that required health insurance, extend liberty or curtail it? We want very much to answer questions like these, because it is a matter of first importance to know which social arrangements are most free. But though we debate them constantly, they stay unresolved.

In this paper I try to at least open the door to a resolution, by making clear why assessing freedom is so hard. Having identified the obstacles to such assessment, I will look at some ways they might be overcome. No strategy I examine shows how finally to resolve debates about which social arrangements are the freest or about what changes in our laws or institutions would make us more free. Still, the upshot of this examination is promising. It shows how not to assess freedom and which problems need attention in the future, so we can say reliably where the greatest freedom lies.

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