Effective non-excludability
It must be physically, technically or economically impossible to exclude non-payers from receiving the relevant benefit.
THE FORMAL TEST
The Minimal Tolerance Theorem
The burden of proof rests entirely with those proposing coercion.
DEFINITION
The structural free-rider problem
A structural free-rider problem exists when individuals can receive the benefit of a good or service regardless of whether they contribute to its provision, weakening the incentive for voluntary participation.
The theorem does not apply to ordinary market imperfections, externalities, practical difficulties or outcomes considered insufficient. It applies only where voluntary provision persistently collapses because of the incentive structure itself.
THE THREE CONDITIONS
All three must hold simultaneously
If even one condition fails, the structural free-rider standard has not been met.
Relevant non-rivalry
One person’s use of the good must not meaningfully reduce the amount available to others.
Persistent voluntary collapse
Private, charitable or community provision must remain persistently unviable for reasons not caused by removable state regulations or legal obstacles.
FORMAL STATEMENT
The theorem
In a non-ideal world, where the State is morally illegitimate and exhibits structural functional failures, its tolerance may be justified strictly on functional grounds only in cases where a structural free-rider problem renders stable voluntary provision unviable, under an exceptionally high evidentiary standard, and only when non-intervention would generate greater harm than the marginal harm introduced by state coercion.
THE BURDEN OF PROOF
No presumption. No analogical expansion.
The burden of proof lies entirely with those proposing intervention.
The importance of a good, the existence of collective benefits or dissatisfaction with a voluntary outcome does not establish a functional justification for coercion.
The exception is narrow and evidentiary. It cannot be presumed, generalized or extended to other cases by analogy.
COROLLARY
The default remains non-intervention
Where no structural free-rider problem exists—or where viable voluntary mechanisms are available—state intervention lacks functional justification and must be presumed illegitimate by default.
Where there is no structural free-rider problem, there is no State.
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Read the complete paper
The SSRN preprint develops the moral, economic and institutional argument behind the theorem.
Open on SSRN