# Foundations Concepts Hub These are the **canonical political-philosophy concepts** the Foundations shelf draws on — the principles whose violation or defense structures the rest of the KB's analysis. Their full records live in the global `/Concepts/` folder (one canonical record per concept, alongside all the right-wing-specific operational concepts like [[Schedule F]], [[Project 2025]], and dark-money mechanics); this document is the **navigational index** for the subset that does the load-bearing work for /Foundations/. **Architecture note (2026-05-15).** Until 2026-05-15 these 8 concepts lived in a parallel `/Foundations/Concepts/` subfolder with `type: foundation-concept`. That created the same split-backlinks problem as the earlier People and Works subfolders: a concept could accumulate links in two locations. The folder was consolidated into `/Concepts/` (`type: concept` + `foundations` tag) and this document took its place as the navigational layer — completing the MOC migration pattern established for People (2026-05-01) and Works (2026-05-01). ## How to find these in the vault All entries below carry `type: concept` and the `foundations` tag. To list them dynamically (Dataview): ```dataview LIST FROM "Concepts" WHERE contains(tags, "foundations") SORT name ASC ``` ## The social-contract cluster The philosophical architecture of democratic legitimacy — why government exists, where its authority comes from, and under what conditions it forfeits that authority. - [[Social Contract Theory]] — Government authority is created by consent and exists to serve the people; the meta-framework the other concepts operate within. Under attack by Yarvin/NRx, Thiel, Christian nationalism, and libertarianism. - [[Consent of the Governed]] — Political authority is legitimate only when derived from voluntary agreement of the governed. The operational core that makes democratic accountability possible. - [[Popular Sovereignty]] — Ultimate authority resides in the people themselves, not in rulers, elites, or clergy. The radical extension beyond mere consent: the people *rule*. ## The rights and liberty cluster What government cannot do — the limits on power that exist regardless of majority will, efficiency arguments, or claims of necessity. - [[Natural Rights]] — Inherent rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that exist prior to government and that no government can legitimately violate. Under selective application by a right that claims gun rights while denying bodily autonomy. - [[The Harm Principle]] — Mill's brightest line: power over others is legitimate only to prevent harm to others. The diagnostic tool that exposes the right's double standard on personal liberty vs. economic regulation. ## The institutional-design cluster How the founding translated philosophy into structure — the engineering that makes the principles mechanically enforceable. - [[Separation of Powers]] — Liberty depends on dividing authority among independent branches. The structural principle that unitary executive theory, DOGE, and NRx's "CEO-monarch" model all attack. - [[Checks and Balances]] — The specific institutional tools by which each branch restrains the others. Where separation of powers is the principle, checks and balances is the engineering. ## The provision cluster What government should do — the affirmative obligations of a just society. - [[The Social Safety Net]] — A just society ensures its members don't fall below a minimum standard of subsistence, health, and dignity. Under attack by DOGE, supply-side economics, and the Randian tradition. ## Sibling MOCs - [[People]] — the philosophers who established these concepts - [[Works]] — the texts they wrote - [[Power Theory]] — the analytical frameworks the KB uses to understand how power operates - [[Political Philosophy Hub]] — the bridge to the /Subjects/Philosophy/ substrate (which traditions underwrite which concepts) ## Forward-planned additions Plausible future additions to this MOC (as full `/Concepts/` entries with `foundations` tag): - **Rule of Law** — Government itself is subject to law; no one is above it - **Due Process** — Procedural and substantive protections against arbitrary power - **Equal Protection** — The law applies equally to all persons - **Freedom of Conscience** — The right to believe (and disbelieve) without state coercion - **Civic Republicanism** — Self-governance as a form of freedom; the citizen's obligation to the republic - **Federalism** — Division of sovereignty between levels of government as a structural safeguard - **The Commons** — Shared resources that belong to no individual and require collective stewardship The inclusion criterion: *does the contemporary right's project make systematic sense to track in opposition to this concept?* Not "important political concept in general," but "philosophical foundation whose erosion the vault is documenting."