100 Prominent Leaders from Both Parties – Including Former Senators, Governors, Mayors, and Business and Thought Leaders – Call for Spring Cleaning Commissions. Government’s Failures with COVID-19 and Police Accountability Show the Need for Overhaul.
Read MorePressure for change is building. Broad alienation and pent-up frustration are reflected in the crazy political rhetoric. But where’s the coherent vision of what the change should be?
Read MoreSomething has gone terribly wrong. An overgrown jungle of complex laws has created stagnation in our country, and removed people's ability to exercise judgement and common sense. Something needs to be done to simplify the law, remove unnecessary rules, and put humans in charge again.
Read MoreThe Washington cocktail of paralytic bureaucracy and polarized politics has stalled the rebuilding of America's decrepit infrastructure for over a decade. Now would be a good time to get off the dime. A million or more jobs — mostly outdoors — would be a great path for helping the economy recover from the COVID shutdown.
Read MoreRebuilding America’s decrepit infrastructure would be a fabulous way to come out of the COVID shutdown — a million or more jobs, most of which are outdoors. How do we do that?
Read MoreThe protests and riots show what happens when large segments of the population believe the deck is stacked against them. Distrust of government leads to corrosion of civil society. The opportunistic looting across the country is indefensible, but it’s rationalized by the logic of nihilism: If police won’t follow norms of civilized behavior, then neither will we.
Read MoreOn this episode of the First Things Podcast, Philip K. Howard discusses his book Try Common Sense: Replacing the Failed Ideologies of Right and Left with host Mark Bauerlein.
Read More“Philip Howard, Chairman of Common Good, discusses the need for such an agency to cut through red tape as the country rebounds from the coronavirus pandemic. Paul Burton hosts.”
Read MorePeople want answers for what went wrong with America’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic—from lack of preparedness, to delays in containing the virus, to failing to ramp up testing capacity and the production of protective gear. But almost nowhere in the current discussion can one find a coherent vision for how to avoid the same problems next time or help restore a healthy democracy.
Read More“Leading legal and governmental reform experts Philip Howard and Cass Sunstein joined CEI President Kent Lassman to discuss structural regulatory changes that could encourage additional relief in the pandemic.”
Read MoreGovernment needs to become disciplined again, just as in wartime. It must be adaptable, and encourage private initiative without unnecessary frictions. Dense codes should be replaced with simpler goal-oriented frameworks, as Cuomo has done. Red tape should be replaced with accountability. Excess baggage should be tossed overboard. We’re in a storm, and can’t get out while wallowing under the heavy weight of legacy practices and special privileges.
Read MoreThis is episode 9, “The Rule of Nobody,” It features the Arendt Center's Founder and Director Roger Berkowitz in a Zoom conversation with Philip K. Howard, lawyer and activist.
Read MoreOpening up the economy again, after the enforced isolation to contain the spread of COVID-19, will require tough choices. The moral and practical tradeoffs will be like none this country has ever faced.
Read More“Much has been, and will be, written about government’s delays in containing the deadly COVID-19 corona virus. . . To what extent did the many regulations governing the actions of each layer of government play a role in delaying a timely response to testing, procurement and a host of other issues?”
Read MorePhilip Howard joins Larry King to discuss Howard’s call for a post-pandemic “Recovery Authority” charged with removing bureaucratic hurdles to restart the U.S. economy.
Read MoreAmerica will get past this health crisis, thanks to the heroic, unimpeded dedication of health-care professionals. But what will save America from a prolonged recession?
Read MoreWhat’s needed is a temporary Recovery Authority with a broad mandate to identify and waive unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles to recovery. The public will benefit not only with faster recovery, but also by treating the new approaches as pilot projects for more effective governance.
Read MoreTo challenge Donald Trump, Democratic candidates are debating leftist and moderate versions of progressive agendas. But what's needed most, polls suggest, is a candidate who addresses the main source of voter anger—Washington itself.
Read MorePhilip Howard joins Paul Verkuil and Adam White in a panel discussion at the Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State at George Mason University.
Read MoreThe federal civil service system is broken. This is not a controversial statement. A 1989 report by the Volcker Commission on civil service found a “quiet crisis” in federal civil service, characterized by “an erosion of performance and morale” and the “inability to recruit and retain a talented work force.” Pride had been replaced by resignation.
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