Americans now know the Democratic and Republican nominees for president. But there are eight months to go before the election. How will the media fill that time?
 
We have a suggestion: Let’s talk about how to fix broken government. What’s needed, say, to deal with infrastructure, or homelessness, or healthcare red tape, or, especially, lousy schools?
 
Fixing each of those areas of public failure is not rocket science, in our view. What’s required, however, is to change the operating system—to re-empower people in charge to make decisions instead of slogging through red tape.
 
Here is Philip Howard's essay in American Purpose, “Letting Leaders Lead,” on how to get American government working again. It’s adapted from his new book, Everyday Freedom.
 
What neither party is saying, but most Americans instinctively know, is that American government is suffering from system failure. Even George Washington couldn’t lead us out of this red tape jungle. Leadership is basically unlawful.
 
It’s time to talk about system overhaul. 

• Everyday Freedom was reviewed by Barton Swaim of The Wall Street Journal, who describes it as “a powerful work of social analysis.”

• Dean Kehler reviewed Everyday Freedom for GoLocalProv Business, writing that it “is especially timely at the start of an election year, as voters think about who will lead our country, and what constitutes good government. Everyday Freedom…is a tour de force.”