Institutions Are Us
Trust in America’s social institutions is at all-time lows. Distrust is like sand in the gears, causing people to question decisions and act defensively. Red tape grows in order to avoid argument: “The rule made me do it.” Institutions lose empathy as well as efficiency. Distrust grows. It’s a downward spiral.
We tend to think of institutions such as schools, hospitals and workplaces as inanimate objects. But institutions are the beating heart of a free society—not only providing virtually all products and services, but providing the framework for each of us to earn our livelihood and fulfill our professional ambitions.
A healthy institution allows people to join with others and achieve much more than we could alone. An institution corroded by distrust and bogged down in red tape will tend to cause alienation and burnout. In this essay in Law & Liberty, Philip Howard describes how human trust is being wrung out of America’s institutions, and what’s needed to restore it.
We hope you will join us next Friday, March 1, when the University of Pittsburgh is hosting a live-streamed forum, “Powerlessness and Populism: Does America need a new governing vision?” Leading experts from both sides will discuss whether broad populist resentment requires a basic overhaul to re-empower people in their daily choices. You can learn more and register here.
Proving that talent skips generations, Philip's daughter Charlotte Howard, Executive Editor at The Economist, interviews him here on C-SPAN’s Book TV.
Everyday Freedom is reviewed by Lou Zickar, Editor of The Ripon Forum, who writes: “Until we can move away from a system that favors rules and regulations over good judgement and common sense, we will continue to have a nation marked more by distrust and dysfunction than the everyday freedom which, Howard rightly argues, has made America great.”
Casey Chalk reviews Everyday Freedom for the Acton Institute, writing: “Howard has done an excellent job diagnosing the problem and offering a paradigmatic solution to our maddening distemper.”