The Constitution “is not a suicide pact,” said Justice Arthur Goldberg in the court’s opinion in the 1963 Supreme Court case of Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez . His statement highlights a fundamental truth: in times of crisis, governments often feel compelled to take extraordinary measures to protect their citizens and maintain order.
However, this desire to act swiftly and decisively can lead down a perilous path where the expansion of government power becomes a seemingly irreversible process. Welcome to the world of the ratchet effect. What Is the Ratchet Effect?
This phenomenon gets its name from the mechanical device called a ratchet, which allows motion in one direction only. Just as a ratchet prevents backward movement, the ratchet effect ensures that government power advances inexorably, never retreating to previous levels.
The ratchet effect theory, as popularized by Robert Higgs in his book Crisis and Leviathan , refers to the tendency […]
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