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Isonomia (ἰσονομία "equality of political rights,"[1][2] from the Greek ἴσος isos, "equal," and νόμος nomos, "usage, custom, law,"[1]) was a word used by ancient Greek writers such as Herodotus[3] and Thucydides[4] to refer to some kind of popular government. It was subsequently eclipsed until brought back into English as isonomy ("equality of law"). Economist Friedrich Hayek attempted to popularize the term in his book The Constitution of Liberty and argued that a better understanding of isonomy, as used by the Greeks, defines the term to mean "the equal application of the laws to all."[5]
- ^ a b Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon
- ^ The Athenian Democracy in the Age of Demosthenes", Mogens Herman Hansen, ISBN 1-85399-585-1, p. 81-84
- ^ Herodotus 3.80
- ^ Thucydides 3.82, 4.78
- ^ Hayek, The Constitution of Liberty pgs 238-242, University of Chicago Press 1960, 2011