Why I, Too, Am Not a Conservative

A short late book in which Buchanan, the founder of public choice and a Nobel laureate, distinguishes his own classical liberalism from conservatism — the title answers Hayek’s “Why I Am Not a Conservative” and adds the “too.” His position is a constitutional one: the case for limited government rests on rules chosen behind a veil by people who do not know which side of them they will end up on, not on deference to inherited order or on confidence that those in charge will be wise.

Why it’s on the list: It sits at the front of the Public Choice sub-section as the school’s normative self-description — what the positive analysis of political behaviour is supposed to be in service of.

Where I saw it: Brendan McCord’s Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List, in the section on Public Choice Theory. Shared on X on March 9, 2026 and saved to Kyle’s “Books To Read” Apple Note. The full 211-entry transcription, with the four parts and sixteen sub-sections, is on The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List.

Connections

• The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List — the curriculum this card came from.
• Government — the object of the constitutional rules Buchanan wants chosen in advance.
• Liberalism — the tradition he is claiming and distinguishing.
• Incentives — public choice’s premise that officials respond to them like everyone else.