[Books](/books) 

![Media Name: democracy-and-political-ignorance-cover.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/serial_cover_phone/public/books/democracy-and-political-ignorance-cover.jpg?itok=y2VfTxj1) 

Join the Conversation 

[\#CatoBooks](https://x.com/hashtag/CatoBooks)

# Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government Is Smarter 

August 2013 • Published By Stanford University Press 

By [Ilya Somin](https://www.cato.org/people/ilya-somin) 

Join the Conversation 

[\#CatoBooks](https://x.com/hashtag/CatoBooks)

##### About the Author 

Ilya Somin is the B. Kenneth Simon Chair in Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute, and a professor of law at George Mason University. He is the author of *Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration and Political Freedom*, *Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government Is Smarter*, and *The Grasping Hand: Kelo v. City of New London and the Limits of Eminent Domain*, and coauthor of *A Conspiracy against Obamacare: The Volokh Conspiracy and the Health Care Case*.