Guest-blogging about my new book Democracy and Political Ignorance

Over the next few days, I will be guest-blogging here at Balkinization about my new book Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter, which was published this week by Stanford University Press. The book argues that widespread political ignorance is a serious problem for modern democracy, and that it strengthens the case for constitutional constraints on government power, limits on government, decentralized federalism, and robust judicial review.

I teach constitutional law and property law at George Mason University in Virginia. Most of my research focuses on federalism, property law issues, and democratic theory. Some Balkinization readers may be familiar with my blogging at the Volokh Conspiracy. More information about  me and my work is available at my website.

In future posts, I will outline some of the main themes of the book, starting with the question of what political ignorance is and why we should care about it. But I would first like to thank Jack Balkin and the other regular bloggers here at Balkinization for this opportunity to guest-blog at one of the top websites focusing on law and politics. Although we often disagree on various issues, I have tremendous admiration for the Balkinization bloggers' many insightful contributions to both scholarship and popular discourse. Some of them were and are professional mentors of mine. Others are former law school classmates, and have gone on to become some of the top legal scholars of their generation. I have learned a great deal from our discussions and debates over the years, and hope to continue to do so.