Every man ought to know what it concerns all to know. Now, nothing upon earth is of a more universal nature than government; and every private man upon earth has a concern in it, because in it is concerned, and nearly and immediately concerned, his virtue, his property, and the security of his person.

—Thomas Gordon. Cato’s Letters No. 38, The Right and Capacity of the People to Judge of Government, Saturday, July 22, 1721.

Most people, desiring only to get on with their own lives, make no systematic study of government. Yet this neglect seriously handicaps the quality of government because it is voters who ultimately shape government; politicians merely ride the waves. It is the voters who must continually review their legislative impulses against the first principles of government. That is why this website aims to educate the ordinary voter.

The purpose of this website is to gather together the principles of good government and explain how they work in practice and thus demonstrate the difference between good intentions and good government.