Third Annual Libertas Institute Essay Contest


Update: Click here to see the winning essays. To view the list of all essay submissions, click here.

Libertas Institute is excited to announce its third annual essay contest:

“Civil Disobedience: Theory, Examples, and Concerns”

The winner of this year’s contest will receive $1,500 and the “people’s choice” winner will receive $500!

Submit your essay using the form below. Before doing so, please review the following rules:

  • Using between 500 and 2,000 words, write about any aspect of civil disobedience. When is it justified, if ever? What historical examples stand out as examples for us to remember? What policies, if any, should merit civil disobedience today? Be creative while still keeping your essay relevant to the topic. You might consider reading Thoreau’s essay on civil disobedience (free PDF available at the link) to inspire you.
  • Submissions are limited to one per person. Libertas Institute staff, interns, board members, and their family members are prohibited from participating.
  • Contestants must live within the state of Utah and be at least 18 years old.
  • Each essay must reflect the contestant’s own research, writing and original thinking.
  • Libertas Institute reserves the right to remove from consideration any essay which contains vulgar, profane, demeaning, or otherwise objectionable material.
  • All submissions remain the intellectual property of their respective authors. However, by submitting your essay in the contest, you fully license and authorize Libertas Institute to publish and use your essay on our website, in other publications, and for other educational purposes. Appropriate citations will be given to the essay’s author.
  • All submissions must be entered on or before August 15, 2014.
  • The essay with the most Facebook “likes” by August 22, 2014 will be declared the winner of the “people’s choice” award and will receive the $500 prize. Once you submit your essay, you will be redirected to the published version of it. Share that link with your friends, family, and on social media encouraging them to visit the page and press the Facebook “like” button to vote for it.
    (Hint: the earlier you submit your essay, the more time you’ll have to promote it and try to win the $500!)
  • Libertas staff will review all essay submissions and choose a winner by August 29, 2014. The decisions by Libertas staff are final.
  • If the judges award the grand prize award to the essay which also received the most Facebook “likes,” the “people’s choice” award will be given to the essay which received the second most “likes.”
  • Winners will be contacted directly via email to arrange delivery of their award, and will be announced shortly thereafter on the Libertas Institute website and through social media.

Please note that you will not be able to edit your submission; clicking “Submit” below will automatically create a page on our website that you will be able to share with others to get the most Facebook “likes.” Please compose your essay in a separate text editor before entering the final submission here.

The submission process is now closed.