Chapter 2 was written in 1988 and first published in 1991. Chapter 3 was written in 1992 and first published in 1993. Chapter 4, the longest chapter of The Minimalist Program, was based on a 1994 work by Chomsky, but with substantial revisions and additions.

In 2015, MIT Press published a 20th anniversary edition of The Minimalist Program together with a 50th anniversary edition of Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, another one of Chomsky's significant