What makes private residential authority accountable?
Buying a home can mean accepting an enduring system of government. What makes that authority accountable over time?
In Private Government Behind the Gates, I examine how homeowners’ associations and related residential institutions collect assessments, maintain shared property, enforce restrictions, and administer rules that owners may find difficult to change. The central question is how the commitments made at purchase relate to the continuing exercise of power.
Drawing on property law, institutional theory, and an illustrative voting model, the book explores the difference between supporting change and being able to secure it. Comparisons among California, Florida, and Texas, together with perspectives from Germany and Canada, illuminate safeguards for private residential authority.
The argument develops a framework for fair administration, workable rule revision, and coordination with public institutions while respecting legitimate commitments. It invites readers to consider the relationship between property ownership and collective self-government.