International Justice Program
As part of the Center for the Study of Human Flourishing, this program seeks to connect current and future international justice advocates with the resources needed to create the conditions for human flourishing around the world.
The rule of law and property rights are among the leading indicators of the proliferation of injustice in the world. Where the rule of law is absent we find injustices ranging from human trafficking, sex slavery, and bonded labor slavery. This program seeks to connect current and future international justice advocates with the resources needed to create the conditions for human flourishing around the world.
The government’s role is not to undermine human freedom, but to minimize those conflicts that may arise when the activities of persons and social institutions result in competing interests. In countries where justice does not work those who are vulnerable find themselves under the rule and whims of men.
Dr. Peter Boettke of the Virginia Institute for Public Policy summarizes the social and economic role to property rights for human flourishing:
- Recognized private property rights provide the legal certainty necessary for individuals to commit resources to ventures. The threat of confiscation, by either private individuals or public officials, undermines confidence in market activity and limits investment possibilities.
- Clear property rights tend to make decision makers pay close attention to resource use and the discounted value of the future employment of scarce resources. Absent private property rights, economic actors will tend to be short-sighted in their decision making and not conserve resources over time.
- Property rights are the basis of exchange and the extension of ownership to capital goods provides the basis for the development of financial markets that are essential for economic growth and development.
- Secure private property rights are the basis for limited and civilized government. The elimination of arbitrary confiscation and the establishment of regular taxation at announced rates enables merchants to calculate the present value of investment decisions and pass judgment on alternative allocations of capital.
Source: “The Role of Private Property in a Free Society” by Dr. Peter Boettke, Virginia Institute for Public Policy