Four Reasons for Pessimism About Free Speech on Campus
There are powerful reasons to be pessimistic about free inquiry and free speech on most campuses today. And I am not talking here about merely the obligation of schools to protect the talks of...
View ArticleCompetition Between Courts and Agencies
During the late 19th century, a major reason for the creation of bureaucratic administration as an alternative to judicial administration was Congress’s determination that courts and the legal...
View ArticleBen Sasse on How the Administrative State Injures American Democracy
Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse’s opening remarks last week at Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing focused attention on Congress delegating its own legislative power to the executive branch. The...
View ArticleThe Least Democratic Branch Is Neither the Senate nor the Courts
With Justice Kavanaugh’s confirmation and the Senate staying in Republican hands, complaints abound about the “undemocratic” Senate. The thing is, there is a much more undemocratic branch of the...
View ArticleA Reagan Holdover’s Belated Appreciation for George H.W. Bush
As a holdover from the Reagan administration, I confess to having found working for George H.W. Bush frustrating. With Reagan, there was a clear and simple direction to the bureaucracy—smaller...
View ArticleEmpowering the State Will Not Advance Social Conservatism
Ross Douthat has called attention to a growing number of conservatives, particularly religious conservatives, who are calling for more state power to advance conservative ends. They see the state not...
View ArticleEnvy, Hypocrisy, and Inequality in French Politics
The French Minister for Ecological and Solidary Transition, François de Rugy, was recently forced to resign over public outcry at allegations of unnecessary extravagance at public expense—allegations...
View ArticleBureaucracy and the Tin-Pot Stasi
A pure bureaucracy, which is what the British criminal justice system has become in all but name, will do almost anything rather than solve the problem with which it is presented. It will invent any...
View ArticleSociety Without a Chest
That power corrupts is an adage known by all—though how far it is the corrupt in the first place who seek power is an open question. Does the opportunity make the crook, or does the crook make the...
View ArticleTrading Constitutionalism for Bureaucracy
In eras of unrest, the scope of politics changes, as subjects once considered outside power’s scope get drawn into contests over who holds it. A subtle but significant example of this shift surfaced...
View ArticleGrievance-Based Policy Analysis
Since the Nixon administration, the federal government has been required to justify the use of public resources using benefit-cost analysis. This method, known as BCA, says that a regulation or a...
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The High Cost of Political Capture
Politics doesn’t just make strange bedfellows; it can also make self-dealing ones. A new study of the economic impact of the $787 billion 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is trying...
View ArticleHow to Make the DOD a Better Customer
The Department of Defense’s entrenched procurement model is characterized by high costs, low volumes, and sole-source contracts. Given the demands of modern warfare, it represents a critical...
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