Stalemate in Congress read headlines. Politicians can't agree reads another. Local pols constrained by federal and state laws. Sound familiar? Of course. For those who have lived just a bit lately, the themes in Mr. Howard's book are plain as day. We are a nation of laws, and we as citizens know this. We depend on this democratic axiom: the rule of law governs our lives. ' But have we gone too far?' is the question raised in this timely book by a distinguished writer and big time lawyer who heads the group known as the coalition Common Good.
He attacks the complexity of rules that constrain politicians who can no longer rely on common sense to govern the people who elected them. This is followed by a lack of accountability for results. We have all read stories of what is necessary to discipline school children: endless paperwork for even minor infractions.
He champions the cause of simplification and a wholesale rewriting of laws so that we can get things done. An obvious case involves permitting construction projects. One project can generate 5000 pages of study impact statements on the environment. Mr. Howard serves up a number of anecdotes that support what we all know: trying to get things done today is an arduous process that consumes many dollars and much time for all involved.
He points to history and noted philosophers and politicians who warned about making laws "so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood"(James Madison). He quotes from Aristotle, Isaiah Berlin, Roscoe Pound, and Madison. Berlin warned against "monstrous bureaucratic machines" that ignore the teeming variety of the living world, the untidy and asymmetrical inner lives of men, and crush them into conformity. Roscoe Pound, the harvard law professor warned of mechanical jurisprudence and championed broad official discretion.
I would advise readers to consider some European states that have created monstrous bureaucratic institutions that have stymied growth and restrained the productivity of whole populations. Italy cannot get out of its own way. Youth unemployment is in the 3-40% range and is getting worse. Why is that? because employers(businesses) do not want to confront the bureaucratic morass that surrounds hiring even the most unskilled of the worker pool.
This book is a must read for those who embrace change. Maybe our president, the supreme embracer of change could learn something from this book.
5 stars
for a complete review see WSJ, April 8, pg. A13.
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