The Leviathan-Index: How much state do we need?

By Wolfgang Daspelgruber

How much state do we need-and when does protection become control?

A state should safeguard freedom, maintain order and protect people. To do so, it needs power. Yet that same power can also be used for surveillance, restrictions and repression.

In The Leviathan Index, Wolfgang Daspelgruber develops a model for comparing this tension across states. The index examines 96 countries across four dimensions: freedom, order, security and control. Sixteen subdimensions form country profiles that reveal more than a single ranking position.

Detailed case studies of the United States, China and Russia, alongside five other countries, illustrate the differences: Where does a high level of security coexist with extensive control? Where is order maintained alongside comparatively high levels of freedom? And what does a similar index score tell us about two very different states?

The book sets out its data sources, calculations and the limitations of the model. It offers no simple formula for the perfect state, but provides a verifiable foundation for one of the most important political questions of our time:

How much power should a state have-and how do we limit it?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0HN1N3VK3
• ISBN13: 9798162260455
• Release Date: October 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"