Blackstone held well-framed laws generate rather than restrict liberty

Evidence

Blackstone (1978: 126) himself wrote: ‘laws, when prudently framed, are by no means subversive but rather introductive of liberty; for (as Mr Locke has well observed) where there is no law there is no freedom.’ — Philip Pettit, Republicanism, 217

Categorization

• XREF: Directly supports the reader’s research question: positive institutional structures (republican law) enable freedom rather than merely removing external threats. — connects to: Locke regarded non-arbitrary law as enlarging rather than constraining freedom — Philip Pettit, Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and…, 212; Law can be non-arbitrary and freedom-preserving rather than inherently dominating — Philip Pettit, Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and…, 335; Well-formed law ranks with natural obstacles, not coercive domination — Philip Pettit, Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and…, 416 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Well-formed law ranks with natural obstacles, not coercive domination #corroborates (0.88) — Philip Pettit, Republicanism, 416
• Law can be non-arbitrary and freedom-preserving rather than inherently dominating #corroborates (0.85) — Philip Pettit, Republicanism, 335
• In republican theory, law itself creates freedom rather than merely restricting it #corroborates (0.82) — Frank Lovett, Republicanism, 53
• Law that is non-arbitrary does not make citizens unfree #corroborates (0.80) — Philip Pettit, Republicanism, 66