We are all created equal, as defined by our natural rights; thus, no one has rights superior to those of anyone else. Moreover, we are born with those rights, we do not get them from government—indeed, whatever rights or powers government has come from us, from ‘the Consent of the Governed.’ And our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness imply the right to live our lives as we wish—to pursue happiness as we think best, by our own lights—provided only that we respect the equal rights of others to do the same. Drawing by implication upon the common law tradition of liberty, property, and contract—its principles rooted in ‘right reason’—the Founders thus outlined the moral foundations of a free society.”

From the Pocket Constitution preface by Roger Pilon

In 1998 the Cato Institute first published a pocket‐​sized edition of the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution “to encourage people everywhere to better understand and appreciate the principles of government that are set forth in America’s founding documents.” Initially they were sent to justices, judges, members of Congress and the executive branch, and select state officials. We had no idea at that time what the demand for such a pocket Constitution would be.

Now, 25 years later, at least 8 million copies have been distributed directly through Cato and through online purchases.

In 2004 we produced a Spanish-English version during Hispanic Heritage Month, and the following year we began printing an Arabic-English version as well. All three versions are still available with hundreds of thousands of copies distributed every year.

Over the years, senators, journalists, and other prominent figures have turned up in news photos with Cato’s pocket Constitution in hand. Copies have been distributed to all members of Congress, all state legislators, all federal judges, many student groups, and a group of 2,000 Russian political leaders visiting the United States through the auspices of the Library of Congress.

Cato’s longtime executive vice president David Boaz says Sen. Robert Byrd (D‑WV) frequently waved his Cato Constitution at his fellow senators in urging them to remember their Article I powers and rein in executive abuse of power. Boaz once told the New York Times in an email interview: “Unlike most senators, Senator Byrd remembers that the Constitution delegates the power to make law and the power to make war to Congress, not the president. But if he really took the Constitution seriously, he’d realize that the limited powers it gives the federal government wouldn’t include many of the New Deal and Great Society programs that have opened up whole new vistas for pork in West Virginia.”

An easily accessible version of these founding documents could not be more vital to the project of making more Americans aware of our rights and our system of government. When the Founders met in Philadelphia in 1787 to draft the Constitution, they understood that government is necessary to secure our rights, but also dangerous because unrestrained government could easily trample rights under the guise of securing them.

Find the pocket constitution at cato​.org/​b​o​o​k​s​/​c​a​t​o​-​p​o​c​k​e​t​-​c​o​n​s​t​i​t​ution.