About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 Criterion J. on Innovation 1 (2016)

handle is hein.journals/critjinov1 and id is 1 raw text is: T H E C R I T E R I 0 N JO U RN A L O N IN NO VATIO N VOL. I 2016 Robot Slaves, Robot Masters, and the Agency Costs ofArtificial Government ThomasA. Smith* At the close of the eighteenth century, a remarkable experiment occurred in governmental design. In NorthAmerica, elites framed a revolutionary govern- ment that was, as nearly as they could make it, a machine that would go of itself.' They produced a complex structure: a government of three branches, legislative, executive, and judicial. Each branch was a kind of government in itself, semi-sovereign in its own right. The whole system was permeated by checks and balances, which were partly inspired by the British constitutional system, at least as it was imagined by the famous Frenchman, the Baron de Montesquieu. This design was laid on top of the old English common law, not as it was in England, but as Americans had practiced it for more than a century and imagined it to have been in olden days, under the 'Ancient Constitution. The newAmerican constitution had a fantastic, clockwork aspect to its design. What was the purpose of this complicated government? The founders assembled it mainly as a safeguard against the weaknesses of human nature. Madison tells us the idea was to set ambition against ambition so that, as much as possible, no faction or coalition of factions could succeed in domi- nating government, which would result in tyranny.2 The goal was to design a mechanism that would produce policy that reflected as nearly as possible the national interest without interfering too much with individuals' and states' rights. With the approval of the thirteen states' ratifying conventions, the new U.S. Constitution was set spinning like a top. It functioned, after a fashion, at least until the American Civil War, which marked a massive * Professor of Law, University of San Diego. I would like to thank Ted Sichelman for valuable suggestions, Mike Rappaport for encouragement, and Greg Sidak for his belief in this project. Copyright 2016 byThomas A. Smith. All rights reserved. 1 See MICHAEL G. KAMMEN,AMACHINETHATWULD Go OF ITSELF: THE CONSTITUTION INAMERICAN CULTURE (Knopf 1986). 2 THE FEDERALIST NO.23 (James Madison). I

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most