Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom

by Ilya Somin

Ballot box voting is often considered the essence of political freedom. But it has two major shortcomings: individual voters have little chance of making a difference, and they also face strong incentives to remain ignorant about the issues at stake. Voting with your feet, however, avoids both of these pitfalls and offers a wider range of choices. In Free to Move, Ilya Somin explains how broadening opportunities for foot voting can greatly enhance political liberty for millions of people around the world. People can vote with their feet through international migration, by choosing where to live within a federal system, and by making decisions in the private sector. These three types of foot voting are rarely considered together, but Somin explains how they have important common virtues and can be mutually reinforcing. He contends that all forms of foot voting should be expanded and shows how both domestic constitutions and international law can be structured to increase opportunities for foot voting while mitigating possible downsides.

Genres: Politics, Economics, Philosophy, History, Nonfiction, Political Science, Law

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2020

About the author

Professor at the George Mason University School of Law, an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, a blogger for Volokh Conspiracy, and a former co-editor of the Supreme Court Economic Review (2006 to mid-2013).

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wound up liking this book quite a lot. I'm very sympathetic to Somin's positions on immigration and political freedom. And a lot of the arguments he covers were familiar to me. But I liked the way that Somin approaches them. First, he's very non-ideological. Yes, he's a libertarian, but he's not at all a dogmatic one. He's willing to consider arguments and considerations from all points on the political spectrum, and he takes those ideas seriously, often taking pains to show how his view can accommodate them. Second, Somin is incredibly *thorough*. If there's a counterargument to his position, odds are pretty damn high that he's going to cover it. Indeed, his response to counterarguments for open immigration was one of the elements of the book that I liked best! In the end, I wound up learning a great deal even though the territory was familiar to me. A very good book.

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The idea that moving is both a political and economic choice is both obvious and not obvious. It's obvious once you start thinking about it, but at first it doesn't seem like a political choice, at least.

Somin does an excellent job of tackling "foot voting" in the abstract (using some concrete data, as well). Foot voting need not compete with "voice voting" or the normal ballot box method, but I think that Somin makes a fairly persuasive case for making foot voting easier. People can make decisions through foot-voting that will clearly affect their livelihood. Unlike ballot voting (which the book certainly says is important as well), you have full control over the policy of where you live (at least in a democratic, free nation). This leads to arguments for loosening most types of migration (whether within a state or between them). I think Somin takes on all the arguments against such a position well. He gives reasons for his position, but admits that local circumstances may balance out the arguments. Everything depends on the details of the situation, but Somin argues there is a strong argument for favoring easy migration (barring specific circumstances militating against), which should be considered by all (and I thought was fairly persuasive as a general argument in favor, though we must always consider the details of the situation).

I'm sure it won't be convincing to all people, but I think Somin has made a good contribution to the public debate, and it should give you things to think about when it comes to immigration and how we can have people feel ike they are making political/economical decisions important for themselves, their families, and (possibly) their countries.

[Matthew Rohn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The core argument - that moving is just as much if not a greater form of democratic participation than voting - is interesting and well presented. Some of the parts about implications feel over theorized and under researched

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very academic presentation of the case for treating immigration as a superior form of political decision making by individuals, superior to voting in most cases. There is a lot I agree with -- the fundamental arguments that most ballot box votes don't count, and so most voters don't put much effort into evaluating candidates or elected officials, and how little effect one could realistically hope to have through the democratic process. Instead, exercising political voice by moving makes more sense, as it's obviously effective for the individual, and the individual has plenty of reasons to research the decision well and course-correct if it was a mistake.

There's also a lot of argument presented that in addition to individual benefits for those moving, it also provides political and economic benefits to both the losing and gaining nations. A lot of these seem very solid.

The one area where I disagree with the book is in the costs of migration (primarily to the "gaining" nation). Somin seems to present "immigrants might vote 60:40 in a way different than natives" as a straw man argument that he thinks dramatically overstates the case; in reality it's even more than that for some immigrant groups and some areas, and even a 1% change has compounded (due to second-generation, etc.) to cause major political changes in the US (and especially in specific states and cities). His example of Estonia vs. Russian immigrants might still be the most extreme, but while there's no valid economic argument against the overall economic increase of educated immigrants, there is a political and cultural one at a certain scale. He says "restricting political franchise would be less of an imposition than restricting all access", but we have no way to do that, and a lot of the economic costs of low-end immigrants are not direct welfare benefits but other costs. As well, he repeatedly makes the standard argument of "if there are costs, they can be covered by redistributing some of the gains" -- of course that's theoretically correct, but never happens.

I like the argument, and mostly agree with it, except for the underestimated costs. It's a great way to present the argument, and the example of "entirely foot voting, with no democratic voting" is interesting -- imagine a bunch of cities/states run by non-democratic institutions (companies, individuals, perhaps automata) into and out of which people could freely choose to migrate -- basicall the Internet in physical form.

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ideas are compelling, and it is timely because the US government is looking to curtail legal and illegal immigration.

I wish there were more stories and anecdotes to support the arguments. Without stories, the book felt like a long essay.

[Dan Griswold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review coming!

[Gary McGath · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a curious thing that the people who say you should leave the country if you don’t like it are so often the ones who favor legal barriers to doing it. Having the option is a valuable freedom, though.

The freedom to “vote with your feet” is the topic of Ilya Somin’s book, _Free to Move_. Somin is probably best known for his writing in the collaborative legal blog “The Volokh Conspiracy.” He presents an argument for maximizing the freedom to relocate from one country, state, or town to another.

This isn’t a book to get people marching in the streets for the cause. The Trump Wall barely gets a mention. Somin makes his case dispassionately, with more abstract reasoning than specific cases. There are lots of endnotes. It’s the kind of book that can have a long-term impact without becoming famous.

Somin compares “foot voting” with ballot box voting and finds that the former is often more effective. An individual’s marginal effect on an election is almost always zero. As a result, people have little motivation to inform themselves and vote intelligently. If they decide to find a new home, they have a strong incentive to learn as much as they can. If an area has net emigration or immigration, that’s a message to its government about people’s informed choices. It can put a brake on bad policies and encourage ones that attract people.

It’s often said that foot voting is a luxury for the relatively well-to-do, but Somin notes that the cost of moving is generally less for the poor. Homeowners are tied to their investments, and they have lots of stuff to move. People with very little can just pick up and go. They’ve got nothing to lose. Sometimes it’s people who have had everything taken from them who need to find a new place, one with more stability and less persecution.

There’s a problem which I don’t think Somin addresses sufficiently. The places with the most oppressive governments are the ones people would most like to leave. Their governments, though, don’t want them to escape. This was obvious in the Soviets’ closed borders and especially the Berlin Wall. Somin was one of the lucky ones; he and his family were able to leave the USSR for the United States in 1979, when he was five years old. The truly totalitarian states, like North Korea, are the hardest to leave or to get information about destinations. The argument for the freedom to move will fall on deaf ears where it’s needed most.

_Free to Move_ is a worthwhile addition to a library of liberty, especially if you have a strong interest in migration issues.

This review originally appeared in a different form on my blog and has been edited to remove some dated comments.

[Ostap · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exceptionally well constructed argument for free movement of people both inside (which is uncontroversial) and between (which is extremely controversial) countries. I am 95% agree with Somin, and the other 5% are just minor disagreements not concerning his main argument. But I wish that the book had at least some real world examples and stories. It's beautifully argued, but it lacks meat and for that reason somewhat boring. If you understand Somin's principal points, you can prety well predict how he will argue further in the book, and, as there's nothing there except his arguments, the motivation to read withers after first several chapters.

[Lalia Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important topic to think about

To me, this was an excellent overview of foot voting,allowing people to move to the place that most matches their needs and skills. It would be improved by more white space, more bullets, and perhaps some graphics. As it currently is presented, many potential readers may pass on the dense text and tendency towards wonkiness.

[Vance Ginn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on the many ways that foot voting is beneficial to people. Check it out!

[Nisveta · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book put a lot of my feelings into words. Excellent read!

[Otávio Ziglia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting book advocating for exit as a better alternative than voice in many political situations.