Lieber presents his views, analysis, and some history of Liberty and self-government; and the nature of both. He emphasizes the importance of a limited sphere of government, of non-governmental ‘institutions’, and of hierarchical local governments. This last group borders on, but doesn’t clearly state a principle of Subsidiarity. He provides a good walk through what he sees as required elements of government and rights: law, elections, constitutions, juries, etc. He rejects democracy as usually failing and prefers a republic or republican monarchy, but never exactly defines either.

Though originally written in 1853, the third edition of 1883 was expanded to include some results of the civil war and events in France. For my needs he spends too much time contrasting and discussing French history, although the inclusion of all six French constitutions from 1779 to 1852 is useful for the record. Other useful appendices include the Magna Carta, English Petition of Rights and Bill of Rights; the U.S. Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and Constitution.
Overall this is an important work for studying the evolution of government and individual liberty; and gaining a mid-nineteenth century perspective from an excellent lawyer. The only drawback is the sometimes overbearing detail and heavy footnotes in a sort of Germanic style. ( )