A study of legal publications between 2009 and 2013 found Epstein to be the 3rd most frequently cited American legal scholar, behind only
Cass Sunstein and
Erwin Chemerinsky.
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Epstein has said that when voting, he chooses "anyone but the Big Two" who are "just two members of the same statist party fighting over whose friends will get favors".He has voted
Libertarian. Epstein says he is "certainly a
Calvin Coolidge fan; he made some mistakes, but he was a small-government guy".
In early 2015, Epstein commented on his relationship to the modern American political landscape, stating: "I'm in this very strange position: I'm not a conservative when it comes to religious values and so forth, but I do believe, in effect, in a strong foreign policy and a relatively small domestic government, but that's not the same thing as saying I believe in no government at all." He has also been characterized as a
libertarian conservative. During a debate with Chris Preble in December 2016, Epstein identified himself as being a "libertarian hawk."