rtI can’t think of an article you’re looking for. However I’d like to recommend to short books that I’ve read last year that seem to me very persuasive. First ‘The law’ by Frédéric Bastiat. You probably know it but Bastiat explains what the law should be (protection of life and property) and what the resulting role of government should be. The resulting government would be severely limited (a constitutional republic). The alternative would be a democracy with lots of government intervention which would be incompatible with individual rights and the proper role of the law. I gave this book to my best friend for his birthday. I’d consider him a social democrat but ‘The law’ really got him thinking and he’s moving toward a more libertarian position.
http://mises.org/document/2731
http://www.amazon.com/The-Law-Frederic-Bastiat/dp/1612930123/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357294025&sr=8-1&keywords=the+law
The other book I can recommend is “Beyond Democracy” by Karel Beckman and Frank Karsten. It’s again a very short book but highly persuasive in my mind. It’s not as academic as ‘Democracy The God that failed’ by Hoppe. The authors go through 12 common myths of democracy and debunk them. (e.g.. Democracy equals freedom). They als opropose alternatives like decentralization with small limited governments. While ‘The Law’ is written from a moral standpoint “Beyond Democracy” seems to be written from a more pragmatic standpoint.
I’d definitely check out both of these books and give them to your friend. You might ask him to recommend any books to you. After having read them you might have a discussion. Good luck