The Voluntary City: Choice, Community, and Civil Society is an Independent Institute

Independent Institute

The Independent Institute is a libertarian think tank based in Oakland, California. Founded in 1986 byDavid J. Theroux , the Institute sponsors studies of major political, social, economic, legal, environmental and foreign policy issues. It has more than 140 research fellows. The Institute was...

-published book, edited by David T. Beito

David T. Beito

David T. Beito is a historian and professor of history at the University of Alabama. He is the author of Taxpayers in Revolt: Tax Resistance during the Great Depression ; From Mutual Aid to the Welfare State: Fraternal Societies and Social Services, 1890-1967 ; The Voluntary City: Choice,...

, about communities with private provision of municipal services. Contributors include Stephen Davies

Stephen Davies

Stephen, Steven or Steve Davies may refer to:*Stephen Davies , American actor*Stephen Davies , British middle-distance runner*Stephen Davies , Australian Anglican bishop...

, Daniel Klein

Daniel Klein

Daniel Klein is the name of:*Daniel B. Klein , professor of economics at George Mason University*Daniel Klein , medieval scholar of Lithuanian language...

, Robert C. Arne, Bruce L. Benson

Bruce L. Benson

Dr. Bruce L. Benson is an American academic economist who is widely recognized as an authority on law and economics and a major exponent of anarcho-capitalism legal theory. He is DeVoe L. Moore Professor and Distinguished Research Professor at Florida State University, where he serves as Chairman...

, David G. Green, James Tooley

James Tooley

James Tooley is a professor of education policy at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, where he directs the E. G. West Centre...

, Fred E. Foldvary

Fred E. Foldvary

Fred Emanuel Foldvary is a lecturer in economics at Santa Clara University, California, and a research fellow at The Independent Institute...

, Donald J. Boudreaux

Donald J. Boudreaux

Donald J. Boudreaux is professor of economics at George Mason University. He served as chairman from August 2001 and stepped down in August 2009. He previously served as president of the libertarian think tank Foundation for Economic Education, a post he accepted in May 1997...

, Randall G. Holcombe

Randall G. Holcombe

Randall Gregory Holcombe is an American economist, the DeVoe Moore Professor of Economics at Florida State University. He argued that private defense agencies could form cartels and oppress people without fear of competition.-References:...

, Robert H. Nelson

Robert H. Nelson

Robert Henry Nelson was an Officer of the British Army and a young adventurer and African explorer, who accompanied H.M.Stanley on the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition, 1887-1889.-Emin Pasha Relief Expedition:...

, Spencer H. MacCallum, and Alexander Tabarrok. It covers the topics of privatized provision of urban infrastructure, roads, planning, police, charity, medical care, education, and commercial regulation. Some criticisms of the book are that it does not adequately address situations such as the accident at Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, where private sector managers failed to install fire suppression equipment or leave the egresses unlocked, causing the death of many employees; or the repressive nature of some private communities, including Pullman, Illinois. However, the book has also been praised for its bibliography, which has many useful resources on privatization. Among the examples the book gives of private communities are the private place

Private place

A private place is a self-governing enclave whose common areas are owned by the residents, and whose services are provided by the private sector....

s of St. Louis and the Central Manufacturing District

Central Manufacturing District

The Central Manufacturing District of Chicago is a area of the city in which private decisionmakers planned the structure of the district and its internal regulation, including the provision of vital services ordinarily considered to be outside the scope of private enterprise...

of Chicago.