El Costo de los Derechos

by Stephen Holmes, Cass R. Sunstein

Whittle away the dense academic prose, and the message of The Cost of Rights is disarmingly simple: as Robert A. Heinlein once put it, "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch." If legal rights are to be considered meaningful, argue coauthors Stephen Holmes and Cass Sunstein, the existence of a government is required to first establish and then to enforce those rights. Running a government costs money; therefore, paying taxes is necessary in order to support the communal infrastructure that upholds individual rights. Each of the book's 14 chapters is essentially a variation on this theme, considering the proposition with regard to property rights, the effect of scarcity upon liberty, or the ways in which religious liberty contributes to social stability, all leading back to the conclusion that "government is still the most effective instrument available by which a politically charged society can pursue its common objectives, including the shared aim of securing the protection of legal rights for all."

Genres: Politics, Law, Economics, Philosophy, Nonfiction

262 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Stephen Holmes is Walter E. Meyer Professor of Law at New York University School of Law.

Holmes' research centers on the history of European liberalism, the disappointments of democracy and economic liberalization after communism, and the difficulty of combating international Salafi terrorism within the bounds of the Constitution and the rule of law. In 1988, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to complete a study of the theoretical foundations of liberal democracy. He was a member of the Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin during the 1991-92 academic year. He was named a Carnegie Scholar in 2003-2005 for his work on Russian legal reform. Besides numerous articles on the history of political thought, democratic and constitutional theory, state-building in post-communist Russia, and the war on terror, his publications include: Benjamin Constant and the Making of Modern Liberalism (1984); Anatomy of Antiliberalism (1993); Passions and Constraint: The Theory of Liberal Democracy (1995); The Cost of Rights, coauthored, with Cass Sunstein (1998); and Matador’s Cape: America’s Reckless Response to Terror (2007).

After receiving his Ph.D. from Yale in 1976, Holmes (b. 1948) taught briefly at Yale and Wesleyan Universities before becoming a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton in 1978. He next moved to Harvard University's Department of Government, where he stayed until 1985, the year he joined the faculty at the University of Chicago where he taught, in both the Political Science Department and the Law School, until 1997. From 1997-2000, Holmes was Professor of Politics at Princeton University. In 2000, he moved to New York University School of Law where he is currently Walter E. Meyer Professor of Law and faculty co-director of the Center on Law and Security.

At the University of Chicago, Holmes was Director of the Center for the Study of Constitutionalism in Eastern Europe. At Chicago and NYU he also served and as editor-in-chief of the East European Constitutional Review (1993-2003). In addition, he has also been the Director of the Soros Foundation program for promoting legal reform in Russia and Eastern Europe (1994-96).

Reviews

[Pollo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahora que muchas personas ingenuas, o simplemente desubicadas, se desgañitan diciendo que "los derechos no se discuten", libros como este nos recuerdan que esa frase es puro floro. Un análisis diferente, un poco repetitivo en su insistencia del costo económico de hacer cumplir los derechos, es decir, de que existan, postura que contrae otras como romper con la dicotomía de derechos negativos y positivos y reafirmar la importancia e inevitabilidad de la intervención estatal y el Estado de Bienestar. Para regalárselo a tu amigo que se cree liberal, a tu amigo progre no, porque no lo entendería.

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

At the very least, reading the Cost of Rights will broaden your prespective beyond the narrowly drawn libertarian/liberal/conservative catagories that have become so ingrained in modern American political thought. Many of the points made in the book are such that they seem obvious once you have read them, though you never in a million years would have thought of them yourself. It's true, for example, that the so-called "negative rights" (rights against governmental interferance) are just as much dependant on governmental enforcement and hence taxpayer dollars as are welfare, medicare, and medicaid. Police forces, court trials, governmental oversight all cost money, and without such well run institutions one's rights are all but nonexistent. It is also the case, though we often forget it, that resources are insufficiant to fund all the rights that people could ever justifiably want or demand.

All of this is well and good, but in Holmes and Sunstein's hands, it fails to translate ino a workable agenda for American politics. Having read the book, I feel that I've gained a broader perspective on legal and political issues, but the practical effects of that broader perspective seem to be nil. In the second half of the book, the authors also begin to confuse legal rights with moral rights, leading to some confused argumentation.

[Fabián Romero Jarrín · Rating 5 out of 5]

El libro “El costo de los derechos. Por qué la libertad depende de los impuestos” de Stephen Holmes y Cass R. Sunstein nos permite conocer la relación directa entre los impuestos y los derechos a los que acceden o quisieran acceder todos los ciudadanos. Es un libro brillante con frases como: “La muy extendida pero sin duda equivocada premisa de que nuestros derechos más fundamentales esencialmente no tienen costo alguno no puede explicarse por el hecho de que no se hayan podido detectar costos ocultos” o “Los derechos son costosos porque los remedios los son”, nos dan luces sobre la importancia de esta publicación.

[Soha Bayoumi]

This is a book that I would highly recommend to all libertarians and fiscal conservatives and to all those who insist on affirming the negative/positive rights dichotomy. It shows clearly that even a minimal "nightwatch" state requires a lot of money and that protecting the basic "negative" rights of citizens (police, judiciary, etc.) requires considerable taxation.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like this book started as an essay... and should've stayed an essay. Interesting and useful perspective said in too many pages.

[Ashish Vyas · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is an excellent review, somewhat heavily worded, but explain the logic and rationale how functioning democracy work! A MUST READ for basic understanding for fundamental issues of basic rights, liberties and how you get them and don't. It is very fair minded and balanced review that should appeal both to the left and right end of the spectrum.

[Nicolás · Rating 3 out of 5]

El Costo de los Derechos se define a si mismo, es una defensa de por qué la libertad depende de los impuestos.

El principal mérito del libro es hacer visibles los presupuestos necesarios para la existencia de la libertad en los Estados Contemporáneos. Transforma derechos y principios etéreos a aplicaciones mundanas y materiales, dejando en evidencia en el proceso que ningún derecho es otorgado por la naturaleza, sino que todos estos emanan de la actividad realizada de forma activa (y no mediante abstenciones) por el Estado.

No existe Propiedad sin normas jurídicas que lo establezcan, sin tribunales que delimiten su aplicación, sin policías que resguarden el respeto a estas normas, sin ejercito que resguarde el territorio nacional o sin la actividad diplomática que mantenga la paz y el comercio libre, por nombrar solo algunos presupuestos dentro de un largo etcétera de elementos que el libro no escatima en señalar.

Holmes en sus mejores argumentos defiende la existencia de los impuestos como mecanismo necesario para la existencia de la libertad. En los más débiles justifica la existencia de un Estado de Bienestar como mecanismo para mantener el pacto social y presupuesto necesario para el desarrollo de las sociedades libres. Si bien comparto las ideas del libro, extrañé la consistencia y solidez de los argumentos que se brindan en su primera parte al momento de rematar un libro que conceptualmente me resulta completo.

[Nihad Marwan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me parece que aunque la premisa es algo obvia, no es algo al que la mayoría de la gente esté consciente cuando se piensa sobre el ejercicio de los derechos humanos. Mi problema con el libro es que siento que después de la mitad se siente que no avanza más y regresa a varios puntos que ya se comentaron. Incluso, el prólogo del libro (realizado por Juan Bertomeu, quien me dio clases de constitucional en la universidad) me parece más agudo y preciso en sus críticas sobre la visión liberal conservadora estadounidense y más al aproximar el problema al contexto latinoamericano. Es un libro interesante, pero que creo que pudo ser resumido en menos páginas y de forma más puntual.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastically clear and interesting book. Every libertarian should read it. And weep. Sunstein and Holmes do a fantastic job showing that the distinction between negative and positive legal rights is of no ethical significance. Negative rights to not be interfered with in various ways depend on taxation and government just as much as positive rights do. As they put it at one point, negative rights are welfare rights. Even if you disagree, there is a lot to learn from this book.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Made some good points, but unfortunately in an overly technical and legalistic way. It made the core of it's argument at the beginning and got repetitive after that.

[Burak Tamaç · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some arguments are too repetitive but the general argument is compelling.

[Gloria Mares · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente libro! toma perspectivas tanto conservadoras como liberales acentuando un tema controversial y muchas veces ignorado en la cuestión del ejercicio de los derechos. Deja pensando acerca del conflicto de distribución de gastos para la protección de los derechos.

[Chunchumaru · Rating 3 out of 5]

Traz um visão de certo modo pragmática acerca dos direitos, ao dialogar com a política e a moral, falando sobre os custos monetários implícitos nas garantias que o Estado concede aos indivíduos que lhe são circunscritos. Sumariamente, sem imposto, não há direito e sem direito não há coesão social, paz e bem-estar
No entanto, as premissas e pontos de partidas são diferentes dos meus, pois os autores são liberais no sentido clássico.

[Enrique Oviedo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un excelente análisis de la razón de ser de los impuestos como garantía de los derechos humanos básicos y sociales, enfocado en la economía y la justicia de los Estados Unidos de América.
El logro de esta investigación es que vá más halla de las justificaciones evidentes de los tributos (salud, educación), yendo a otros ámbitos (justicia, libre mercado, entre otros).

[Rodrigo Celestino P. Menezes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good aproach, demystifying some old-fashined ideas, as the one that says first generation rights doesn't cost nothing to the government.
Easy language and understanding, with a bunch of examples and stare decisis.

[sheena d! · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sucks to think that freedom is not free, but that's what this is about. Maybe.

[Marvin chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

The subtitle of this book is "Why liberty depends on taxes." Something that is not generally appreciated by the public.