Frederic Bastiat Interversity's 
Libertarian Certification Program

When an applicant passes the exam with a score of 80 percent or better, he or she will be awarded a Certificate of Libertarian Authenticity, suitable for framing and hanging.

So, if you believe you are a real libertarian, and your spouse and friends have suggested for years that you are certifiable, well . . . maybe you are! Find out for sure by taking the Libertarian Certification Exam. If you pass it, you can objectively prove to others that you are a Certified Authentic Libertarian! So, don't delay -- join the elite of constitutional freedom activists fighting for the principles that made America great.

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Suggested Sources for Background Preparation

The following books, articles and other sources are but suggested readings on the topics covered by the exam questions. The background material, facts, and principles covered on the test are included in -- but not limited to -- the information in these sources, which are familiar to most libertarians and Libertarians. Most, if not all, the books listed below are available from Laissez-Faire Books, the Foundation for Economic Educaiton, Blackstone Audio Books, or amazon.com. The articles and other online sources are "clickable" to the appropriate links.

The Law by Frederic Bastiat -- Softback
The Law by Frederic Bastiat -- Hardcover
The Law by Frederic Bastiat -- Unabridged Audio Cassette
The Law (as Chapter 2 of Selected Essays on Political Economy) by Frederic Bastiat (as translated by Seymour Cain) -- Online
Economic Sophisms by Frederic Bastiat
The Incredible Bread Machine by Richard W. Grant
"That Which Is Seen, and That Which Is Not Seen" by Bastiat
Economics In One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt
"Textbook of Americanism" by Ayn Rand
"The Physiology of Plunder" by Bastiat
"The Essence of Liberty" by David Nolan, cofounder of the American LP
"Some Basic Definitions" by Wells
"What a Libertarian Is -- and Is Not" by Wells
"The Three Categories of Human Activity" by Wells
On the Proper Role of Government by Ezra Taft Benson
Cliches of Politics ed. by Mark Spangler
Government and Legal Plunder: Bastiat Brought Up To Date by Dean Russell
Libertarianism, a Primer by David Boaz
Libertarianism In One Lesson by David Bergland
"A Petition from the Candlemakers" by Frederic Bastiat
Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal by Ayn Rand
Healing Our World: The Other Piece of the Puzzle by Dr. Mary Ruwart
Libertarianism by Dr. John Hospers, the LP's first Presidential candidate
The Libertarian by Robert LeFevre (Bramble minibook)
Anything That's Peaceful: The Case for the Free Market by Leonard ReadFree To Choose by Milton and Rose Friedman

The Essential Ludwig von Mises by Murray Rothbard
What Has Government Done To Our Money? by Rothbard
The Case Against the Fed by Rothbard
Two Treatises of Government -- 2 Audio Tapes, excerpts & historical analysisOrigins of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights by Mayer -- 2 Audio TapesThe Intellectual Foundations of American Constitutionalism by Mayer
The Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson
The Constitution of the United States
The U. S. Bill of Rights (First ten amendments)
Major Documents in the Historical Development Toward the American Constitutional Republic (web links)
The People's Pottage by Garet Garrett
1971-2001: The Libertarian Party's 30th Anniversary Year by Bill Winter -- a brief history of the LP
"The Task Confronting Libertarians" from The Wisdom of Henry Hazlitt

Suggestions for More In-Depth Investigations

Capitalism: A Treatise On Economics by Prof. Goerge Reisman
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Anarchy, State, and Utopia by Robert Nozick
The Road to Serfdom by F. A. Hayek
America's Great Depression by Rothbard
The Case for a 100 Percent Gold Dollar by Rothbard
The Economics of a Pure Gold Standard by Mark Skousen
Hoodwinking the Nation by Julian Simon
Second Treatise on Civil Government by John Locke
The English Bill of Rights of 1689
The Virginia Declaration of Rights by George Mason
The Federalist Papers
The Anti-Federalist Papers
The Papers of James Madison
The Levellers: Libertarian Radicalism and the English Civil War by Hoiles
Philosophic Sources of the American Founding -- Claremont Institute
The Independent Whig & Cato's Letters of Trenchard & Gordon
The Founders' Constitution ed. by Kurland & Lerner
A General Outline of Political Systems -- analyzed in terms of Governmental Form and Governmental Scope
A "Vertical" Political Spectrum A new slant on an old conflict
Not Yours To Give A speech before the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Davy Crockett
The Noblest Triumph Property & Prosperity Through the Ages by Tom Bethell
The Industrial Revolution and Free Trade by Folsom
The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism by F. A. von Hayek
More Guns, Less Crime by Lott
The Seven Myths of Gun Control by Poe
On Liberty and Drugs: Essays on the Free Market and Prohibition by Milton Friedman & Thomas Szasz
The Creature from Jekyl Island by G. Edward Griffin
The Libertarian Reader by David Boaz
The Ayn Rand Lexicon ed. by Harry Binswanger
Antitrust: The Case for Repeal by Dom Armentano
The Case Against Government Schools: Getting Politics Out of Education by Frank E. Fortkamp
The Ayn Rand Reader edited by Gary Hull & Leonard Peikoff
A Basic History of the United States Vol 2: The Beginning of the Republic 1775-1826 by Clarence B. Carson
A Basic History of the United States Vol 4: The Growth of America, 1878-1928 by Clarence B. Carson
A Basic History of the United States Vol 5: The Welfare State, 1929-1985 by Clarence B. Carson
The Conquest of Poverty by Henry Hazlitt (online, free of charge)

 
 

What is the Proper Function of Political Law and its Agencies of Enforcement?

In the year 1850, not long before his untimely death from tuberculosis, Bastiat wrote and published perhaps the most eloquent essay on the proper role of government ever written. It is entitled "The Law" and is filled with Bastiat's usual clarity of expression and profound insights. Click on the following link and read the full text of the American translation of this classic exposition: The Law (HTML version) by Frederic Bastiat

The Law (plain text version) by Frederic Bastiat

Dallas Federal Reserve President Bob McTeer's Wall Street Journal tribute to Frederic Bastiat

Why Frederic Bastiat is my hero

Economist Dr. Walter Williams on "Liberty's Greatest Advocate"