There’s a lot going on in the world, with Ukraine, Canadian truckers, and more. So it was easy to miss the report of the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, released on February 7. The Task Force, chaired by Vice President Kamala Harris, calls for expanding collective bargaining throughout society, including in government.
Read MorePhilip Howard joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Howard’s essay American Purpose essay “Accountability on Trial,” which contends that accountability is being undercut by public union contracts.
Read MoreComing into the new year, it is vital to come to grips with the disease that most threatens American democracy—nearly universal distrust of its governing institutions. The anger and polarization rivening society are symptoms of distrust.
Read MoreThe first anniversary of the January 6 mob at the Capitol has prompted lots of commentary about how polarized America is. But why is America polarized? The frustration and anger that drives people to extremes isn't made up.
Read MoreWhat can we do about our country? That’s the question I hear most often. Washington is mired in a kind of trench warfare, with no prospects of forward movement. And Americans today can be divided into two camps: discouraged or angry. Americans are retreating into warring identity groups as extremists demand absolutist solutions to defeat the other side. It’s nighttime in America.
Read MoreWhat can we do about our country? That’s the question I hear most often. Washington is mired in a kind of trench warfare, with no prospects of forward movement. And Americans today can be divided into two camps: discouraged or angry.
Read MoreAmerica needs a new public narrative, with new leaders. The key, we think, is to replace red tape with human responsibility. Nothing will get fixed until we re-empower Americans to roll up their sleeves and make things work again.
Read MoreThe $1.2 trillion package is about $10,000 for every American household. Without implementation oversight, the money will gush out of Washington without any discipline over, for example, New York work rules that can make infrastructure projects five times as expensive as in other developed countries.
Read MoreBy opening the door to a new party, Yang once again reveals solid leadership instincts. But a new movement requires a tougher, more focused platform. A list of centrist do-good reforms is unlikely to elicit the public passion needed to dislodge the current parties. Yang himself is a bold and disarming figure; his party must be as well. A new party needs a clarion call that can galvanize popular support.
Read MorePolitics today seems dominated by loonies and fanatics: On the right, "Stop the steal" and anti-vaxxers; on the left, "woke" thought-police and spendthrift policies with no implementation plan. Extremists succeed mainly in driving us apart, not (so far) changing government. But do the leaders of either party offer a coherent governing vision?
Read MoreThere are about 5 trillion reasons to worry about the massive Biden spending proposal, but at least $1 trillion of it is aimed at overdue infrastructure needs — roads, transmission lines, broadband, water, and other "hard" infrastructure that will improve America's competitiveness and environmental sustainability.
Read MorePresident Biden’s breathtaking $5 trillion infrastructure agenda — about $50,000 in debt for each American family — is stalling on broad skepticism on both the goals and means of spending that money. … There’s a deal to be made here: Use this moment to overhaul how Washington spends money.
Read MoreAuthority in America has been broadly replaced by a procedural framework. People with responsibility — including university presidents, principals, public officials and business managers — believe they can't enforce any values unless explicitly set forth in a rule, or can be proved by objective evidence. Who are they to judge?
Read MoreDo you feel buffeted by crazy viewpoints on both sides? Stop the Steal. Anti-vaxxers. Cancel King Lear. America is evil. Mass idiocies are amplified by social media, but all this nonsense is enabled by something else: the progressive disempowerment, since the 1960s, of people in positions of responsibility.
Read MoreOverhauling government is needed to achieve public and private goals, most Americans agree. But overhaul is impossible without a new political movement. A “first mover” problem prevents any political leader from getting in the crosshairs of the powerful interest groups that defend the status quo.
Read MoreIn Sludge, Sunstein shines a light in the bureaucratic darkness, and, by calling for “sludge audits,” adds his moral authority to the growing demand to clear out the bureaucratic underbrush.
Read MorePhilip Howard joins Geoff Kabaservice to discuss how thousands of nonsensical laws hamper any good the government can do.
Read MorePublic frustration has boiled over in recent years in populist movements on all sides, including the Tea Party movement, Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter. Channeling this anger into a coalition for change would provide common ground not only for environmentalists, but parents, caregivers, business leaders, police reformers and many others.
Read MoreHow does change happen in Washington? The list of needed changes is long — to address climate change, unmanageable schools, runaway healthcare costs, unaccountable police, obsolete laws, and more. Decades go by, and none of these problems get fixed. Even President Biden's ambitious infrastructure proposal (which incorporates Common Good's proposals for permitting reform) doesn't take on the core changes needed to address climate change.
Read MoreSince the 1960s, the main political dividing line in the United States has been over the scope of government. Democrats have called for more public services and more regulation to address current challenges. Republicans have called for de-regulation and fewer services, backed by ample evidence of public failures, inefficiencies, and overreach. But government keeps getting bigger and generally more inefficient, without dealing with past and present needs.
Read More
