Rule by man, not the rule of law: The United States Supreme Court and regulatory takings judgments, 1905--2005

In this dissertation, I test the hypothesis that the Supreme Court of the United States has shifted from a Lockean notion of rights to a Hobbesian notion and, more recently, has taken a mixed approach to rights. I contend that this has affected the decisions of the Supreme Court with respect to takings and regulatory takings cases. To investigate this hypothesis, I have analyzed several important decisions of the Supreme Court. The words of the Justices support my hypothesis and, in some respects, the Court has violated the strict wording of the United States Constitution.