{{Short description|American political scientist}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2022}} {{Infobox person |name=Jason Sorens |image=JasonSorens-2016.png |alt=Free State Project founder Jason Sorens |caption=Photo courtesy Free State Project |birth_place=Houston, Texas, U.S. |alma_mater=Yale University, PhD political science<br>Washington and Lee University, BA in economics and philosophy |occupation=Professor and author |website={{URL|FreeStateProject.org}}<br> }}

'''Jason Sorens''' is an American political scientist and a conservative libertarian activist. He founded the Free State Project in 2001.

==Personal life== Sorens lives in Amherst, New Hampshire with his wife Olga and their children.<ref name="AIER, Sorens as Senior Research Faculty circa 2/2023" />

==Career== Sorens received his B.A. in economics and philosophy, with honors, from Washington and Lee University and his PhD in political science from Yale University.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-03-15 |title=Biography of Dr. Jason Sorens {{!}} docs.house.gov |url=https://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA14/20160315/104672/HHRG-114-FA14-Bio-SorensJ-20160315.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240619094053/https://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA14/20160315/104672/HHRG-114-FA14-Bio-SorensJ-20160315.pdf |archive-date=2024-06-19 |access-date=2024-07-13 |website=Biography of Dr. Jason Sorens}}</ref>

Sorens is a Senior Research Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), a conservative libertarian think-tank.<ref name="AIER, Sorens as Senior Research Faculty circa 2/2023">{{cite web |last1=Sorens |first1=Jason |title=Jason Sorens &#124; AIER |url=https://www.aier.org/people/jason-sorens/ |website=www.aier.org |publisher=AIER |access-date=17 February 2023}}</ref> Previously, Sorens was the director of the Center for Ethics in Society at St. Anselm College<ref name="St. Anselm College Faculty Directory – Jason Sorens">{{cite web |title=St. Anselm College Faculty Directory |url=https://www.anselm.edu/faculty-directory/jason-sorens |website=www.anselm.edu/ |publisher=St. Anselm College |access-date=November 26, 2021}}</ref> and prior to that he was a lecturer in the department of government at Dartmouth College. He has been an affiliated scholar with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University since 2008. His primary research interests include fiscal federalism, public policy in federal systems, secessionism, and ethnic politics.

Sorens' book ''Secessionism: Identity, Interest, and Strategy'' was published by McGill-Queen's University Press in 2012.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cunningham |first=Kathleen Gallagher |date=March 2013 |title=Secessionism: Identity, Interest, and Strategy. By Jason Sorens. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2012. 232p. 29.95 paper. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/abs/secessionism-identity-interest-and-strategy-by-jason-sorens-montreal-and-kingston-mcgillqueens-university-press-2012-232p-9500-cloth-2995-paper/B147F13C57BD2C390D6F2FB4F11CC862 |journal=Perspectives on Politics |language=en |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=354–355 |doi=10.1017/S1537592712003921 |issn=1537-5927|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

He is president and co-founder of the Ethics and Economics Education of New England (E3NE), a libertarian education non-profit.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-01-29 |title=Sorens on Liberty |url=https://dartreview.com/sorens-on-liberty/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221226052053/https://dartreview.com/sorens-on-liberty/ |archive-date=2022-12-26 |access-date=2024-07-13 |website=The Dartmouth Review |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Free State Project=== {{main|Free State Project}} In July 2001, Sorens published an essay titled "Announcement: The Free State Project",<ref name="tlesoren">{{cite journal | last=Sorens | first=Jason | url=http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2001/libe131-20010723-03.html | title=Announcement: The Free State Project | journal=The Libertarian Enterprise | volume=131 | date=July 23, 2001 | access-date=January 26, 2016 | archive-date=November 9, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109025934/https://ncc-1776.org/tle2001/libe131-20010723-03.html | url-status=dead }}</ref> in which he proposed the idea of a political migration, with 20,000 libertarians to move to a single low-population state (New Hampshire, selected in 2003) to make the state a stronghold for libertarian ideas.<ref>{{cite news |title=Libertarians Pursue New Political Goal: State of Their Own |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/27/us/libertarians-pursue-new-political-goal-state-of-their-own.html?pagewanted=all |first=Pam |last=Belluck |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 27, 2003 |accessdate=January 26, 2016}}</ref>

As of November 26, 2021, over 20,000 people had signed this statement of intent<ref name="FSP membership statistics home page">{{cite web |title=FSP membership statistics |url=https://www.fsp.org/ |website=www.fsp.org/ |publisher=The Free State Project |access-date=November 26, 2021}}</ref>—completing the original goal—with 5,223 people listed as "movers" to New Hampshire on the FSP website, saying they had already moved to New Hampshire as part of the 20,000+-participant trigger.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2296999/|title=Free State Project: What happens if 20,000 libertarians move to New Hampshire?|work=Slate Magazine|date=June 15, 2011|accessdate=April 23, 2015}}</ref> As of May 2022, approximately 6,232 participants have moved to New Hampshire for the Free State Project.<ref>{{cite web|title=FSP current mover count|url=https://www.fsp.org/ |website=fsp.org|publisher=Free State Project|access-date=1 May 2022}}</ref>

==See also==

* Free State Project * New Hampshire Liberty Alliance * New Hampshire Liberty Forum * Porcupine Freedom Festival

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [https://www.anselm.edu/faculty-directory/jason-sorens Biography at Saint Anselm College] * [https://www.mercatus.org/scholars/jason-sorens Biography at Mercatus Center] * [http://FreeStateProject.org Free State Project] * [http://www.mqup.ca/secessionism-products-9780773539303.php ''Secessionism: Identity, Interest, and Strategy'' by Jason Sorens] * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIJm4gjrwsg YouTube: A brief history of the Free State Project with FSP founder Jason Sorens] * {{Google Scholar id|2g21_XoAAAAJ}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorens, Jason}} Category:Living people Category:Educators from Houston Category:Yale University alumni Category:American libertarians Category:Libertarian economists Category:Dartmouth College faculty Category:Activists from Texas Category:American founders Category:Year of birth missing (living people)