4.10/5
Author: Philip K. Howard
Publication Date: May 3, 2011
Formats: PDF,Paperback,Hardcover,Kindle,Audio,Cassette
Rating: 4.10/5 out of 1192
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
“We need
a new idea of how to govern. The current system is broken. Law is
supposed to be a framework for humans to make choices, not the
replacement for free choice.” So notes Philip K. Howard in the new
Afterword to his explosive manifesto The Death of Common Sense.
Here Howard offers nothing less than a fresh, lucid, practical operating
system for modern democracy. America is drowning—in law,
lawsuits, and nearly endless red tape. Before acting or making a
decision, we often abandon our best instincts. We pause, we worry, we
equivocate, and then we divert our energy into trying to protect
ourselves. Filled with one too many examples of bureaucratic overreach,
The Death of Common Sense demonstrates how we—and our
country—can at last get back on track.
Mar 01, 2013
As I read this book, I nodded my head along with the author’s points on almost every page. He describes specific examples of the red tape and bureaucratic insanity we have all experienced firsthand throughout our lives. Though it is somewhat a depressing read, considering that bureaucracy and paperwork have increased by an order of magnitude since this edition was published two decades ago, it was worth picking up anyway. For a book focused on webs of laws and bureaucrats, it was a surprisingly As I read this book, I nodded my head along with the author’s points on almost every page. He describes specific examples of the red tape and bureaucratic insanity we have all experienced firsthand throughout our lives. Though it is somewhat a depressing read, considering that bureaucracy and paperwork have increased by an order of magnitude since this edition was published two decades ago, it was worth picking up anyway. For a book focused on webs of laws and bureaucrats, it was a surprisingly smooth read. My only major criticism is that the author was long on problems and short on practical and specific solutions.Jan 10, 2009
I know that this book looks like it would be mind-numbingly boring but it is actually a great read and only takes a few hours. If all of the stories weren't frustratingly true then this could be comedy. This book makes a journey through government regulation that is supposed to save us from ourselves but instead makes government the masters of us, shackled by either bureaucratic stupidity or power trips. For example, in NYC the city government sold two buildings, abandoned after being gutted by I know that this book looks like it would be mind-numbingly boring but it is actually a great read and only takes a few hours. If all of the stories weren't frustratingly true then this could be comedy. This book makes a journey through government regulation that is supposed to save us from ourselves but instead makes government the masters of us, shackled by either bureaucratic stupidity or power trips. For example, in NYC the city government sold two buildings, abandoned after being gutted by fire and sitting for years, to a Catholic charity for $1 each, after which the church spent over $500,000 renovating the buildings and turning it into a shelter that would take 64 homeless men off the street, give them a clean room and job training so that they can re-enter society as productive members. After two years a building inspector told them that because the building code requires all renovated multi-story buildings to have an elevator, they must either install one (at a cost of $100,000 to them) or shut the building down. Not having the money to do that, the building was shut down and the men put back on the street. This short book does a perfect job of showing us why we have to regain control of a tyrannical government. ...moreJul 24, 2007
This is one of those books written from the modern American conservative viewpoint that does a very good job of opening the reader's eyes to a serious problem caused by modern statism, but whose solutions are problematic. The author argues that America is choking on legalistic bureaucracy run amok, a legalism that is sapping the ability of government to actually do anything. His solution is to say that government officials and employees should be allowed more flexibility to make decisions using This is one of those books written from the modern American conservative viewpoint that does a very good job of opening the reader's eyes to a serious problem caused by modern statism, but whose solutions are problematic. The author argues that America is choking on legalistic bureaucracy run amok, a legalism that is sapping the ability of government to actually do anything. His solution is to say that government officials and employees should be allowed more flexibility to make decisions using their own judgement. I agree with him about the problem, but think the solution is wrong. American government was traditionally a government of laws, not men, meaning that government agents were allowed to act only as the law authorized them to. This was intended to be a defense of liberty, because it prevented goverment officials from exercising arbitrary power. However, this system can only work when government is quite limited in the functions it performs. What has been happening since the time of Roosevelt is that government has been rapidly expanding its role in society, involving itself in more and more areas of life. The current choking legalism is a result of this expansion of government combined with an attempt to retain the government of laws approach. Howard's solution is essentially to say that we should relax the requirement of having a government of laws. Instead he prefers to allow goverment officials to have more latitude in exercising their powers. To my mind this is exactly the wrong answer. The answer is not to allow officials more freedom to exercise arbitrary power, it should be to roll back the powers of government. But like most modern conservatives, Howard seems to have abandoned or forgotten the old conservative principle of limited government, and instead seeks only to make the modern statist state more efficient. ...moreMay 02, 2011
This is the first book in a long time that has really challenged my beliefs. Howard shows with clarity how we need smarter regulations, not more or less regulation. His call to bring back law as guiding principle rather than rule book or manual resonated with me. Government employees can't act in the best interest of the people if their hands are tied by legal processes that don't make any sense in most circumstances. I had a hard time with his take on rights, but in the end this is where he This is the first book in a long time that has really challenged my beliefs. Howard shows with clarity how we need smarter regulations, not more or less regulation. His call to bring back law as guiding principle rather than rule book or manual resonated with me. Government employees can't act in the best interest of the people if their hands are tied by legal processes that don't make any sense in most circumstances. I had a hard time with his take on rights, but in the end this is where he really changed my thinking. Now I'm interested to explore better ways to deal with inequality and social problems than inventing open-ended rights. On one hand I don't think Jim Crow would have ever ended in the South without government intervention, on the other I can see where open-ended rights creates another kind of tyranny, insanity, and maybe doesn't address the original problem so well to begin with. ...moreJan 23, 2016
Great book and I am going to read it again, because the information is just as relevant today as it was a few years ago.Nov 04, 2011
I was very interested in reading this book after seeing the author on The Daily Show. Surprise surprise, a book about the perils of bureaucracy can be a bit dry. I found Howard's thesis compelling and am totally on board with his call for a new age of responsibility. However, I found this text long on problems and short on solutions. Example after example of bloated inefficiencies in government eventually had me saying "get to the point already!" When Howard finally does start proposing I was very interested in reading this book after seeing the author on The Daily Show. Surprise surprise, a book about the perils of bureaucracy can be a bit dry. I found Howard's thesis compelling and am totally on board with his call for a new age of responsibility. However, I found this text long on problems and short on solutions. Example after example of bloated inefficiencies in government eventually had me saying "get to the point already!" When Howard finally does start proposing solutions I found them very broad. Still, if everybody in this country took the time to read this book and understand how our legal system is bogging everything down, perhaps change would be possible. These are important ideas, so be a good reader and take your medicine. ...moreJul 25, 2011
I had much higher hopes for this book but it was solid nonetheless. I found myself thinking that the anecdotes, while interesting (and appalling) may be the proverbial trees that are keeping me from really seeing the forest. I can't tell if his examples are truly indicative of what is really going on out there. I am also not certain that people are as susceptible to accountability as Howard suggests. While there is much to be said about over-regulation, there is also, I suspect, much to be said I had much higher hopes for this book but it was solid nonetheless. I found myself thinking that the anecdotes, while interesting (and appalling) may be the proverbial trees that are keeping me from really seeing the forest. I can't tell if his examples are truly indicative of what is really going on out there. I am also not certain that people are as susceptible to accountability as Howard suggests. While there is much to be said about over-regulation, there is also, I suspect, much to be said about under-regulation as well. There are probably many instances in which well-meaning government overdoes it but government allowing industries to act in the most reasonable way sounds an awful lot like what created the mess on Wall Street. Read on and make up your own mind. ...moreMar 14, 2019
A sad but true commentary on the decay of the American system of laws.Mar 18, 2017
One of many favorite quotes from the book:Jun 24, 2008
This is not a good bedtime read. It's frankly aggravating, but I knew that coming in. This is, more or less, 287 pages of stating the obvious, but in ways that continue to amaze and infuriate anew. In short, there are too many laws, and more specifically, too many highly detailed universal regulations that don't actually apply to anything in the real world. It was a little upsetting how this book reminded me of all the things I don't like about my job: the idiotic paperwork and endless mandatory This is not a good bedtime read. It's frankly aggravating, but I knew that coming in. This is, more or less, 287 pages of stating the obvious, but in ways that continue to amaze and infuriate anew. In short, there are too many laws, and more specifically, too many highly detailed universal regulations that don't actually apply to anything in the real world. It was a little upsetting how this book reminded me of all the things I don't like about my job: the idiotic paperwork and endless mandatory procedure that goes along with basically everything. This book simply gave me more reasons to roll my eyes. Sure, I didn't quite see eye to eye with the author on everything - I am not quite as enamoured of the New Deal as he, for instance - but he makes enough valid points to give me plenty of food for (frustrating) thought. There is, luckily, a marginal amount of hope offered in the last chapter. I think the author's purpose here was mostly to point out the inanity of the current climate, to show us just how far down the slope we've slid. I doubt we are quite as close to the authoritarian, death-of-democracy dystopia as he implies, but there are unquestionably problems with the way things are being done. This is a book more people need to read, especially those who work as bureaucrats and special-interest advocates. ...moreDec 09, 2009
This book has forced me to re-evaluate my position about rules and regulations. As a programmer, I have to generate code that should take into account every possible situation and be able to not fail miserably when a user runs it. In other words, I shouldn't depend on the user to have common sense. American modern law, as the author points out, has become extremely detailed, and we, as a people, want the law to be self-executing (just like a computer program!). In other words, we don't trust a This book has forced me to re-evaluate my position about rules and regulations. As a programmer, I have to generate code that should take into account every possible situation and be able to not fail miserably when a user runs it. In other words, I shouldn't depend on the user to have common sense. American modern law, as the author points out, has become extremely detailed, and we, as a people, want the law to be self-executing (just like a computer program!). In other words, we don't trust a person's judgment. But, perhaps, my dear friends, we ought to give a person the benefit of a doubt. Let an individual practice their individualism. If the results of their decisions are too awful for society to deal with, making a law about every detailed situation related to the incident isn't necessarily a good idea. Let the enforcers and judges of the law execute their decisions. The author presents many, many examples of how the extreme details of modern law have actually _created_ the loopholes in modern law. We must trust each other, and not some system that cannot think for itself. Computers cannot think for themselves and neither can law. Unlike computers, though, law is deciding our fate.Jan 28, 2009
I read a couple good excerpts from the book and thought I would give it a shot. The subtitle "How Law is Killing America" made me a little nervous but it turned out to be a great book. The book lays out, using examples of how laws and regulations set out by Congress are ineffective and make getting work done difficult. Accountability has been lost, as no one makes decisions, and the buck stops nowhere. It addresses the cult of rights, a large and complicated bureaucracy, corruption despite I read a couple good excerpts from the book and thought I would give it a shot. The subtitle "How Law is Killing America" made me a little nervous but it turned out to be a great book. The book lays out, using examples of how laws and regulations set out by Congress are ineffective and make getting work done difficult. Accountability has been lost, as no one makes decisions, and the buck stops nowhere. It addresses the cult of rights, a large and complicated bureaucracy, corruption despite safeguards, inefficiency in government, and the shift in focus from results to a fair process.Jun 13, 2010
This book should be required reading for anyone in government in the U.S., chock full of examples of absurdity cause by the mountain of regulation we've built over the last 50 years. Howard goes after 1) excessively detailed law, 2) slavish dedication to process, and 3) handing out absolute rights that can erode the common good of society (e.g., it's practically impossible to remove a disruptive kid from a classroom nowadays because every child has been granted an absolute "right to an This book should be required reading for anyone in government in the U.S., chock full of examples of absurdity cause by the mountain of regulation we've built over the last 50 years. Howard goes after 1) excessively detailed law, 2) slavish dedication to process, and 3) handing out absolute rights that can erode the common good of society (e.g., it's practically impossible to remove a disruptive kid from a classroom nowadays because every child has been granted an absolute "right to an education", regardless of the costs and trade-offs).Apr 13, 2014
Great book, He does a great job of describing the problem but the solution is almost hopeless without a real sea change in attitude at the top. The solution is to change how laws are written and forget about the perfectly fair and equal law. Or get government to burn 90% of the laws and leave us all to work from guidelines only. A very tall order because the current system of rules and procedures but no responsibility suits the law makers and the government workers. It just doesn’t work for any Great book, He does a great job of describing the problem but the solution is almost hopeless without a real sea change in attitude at the top. The solution is to change how laws are written and forget about the perfectly fair and equal law. Or get government to burn 90% of the laws and leave us all to work from guidelines only. A very tall order because the current system of rules and procedures but no responsibility suits the law makers and the government workers. It just doesn’t work for any one else but single issue extremists – cost is no object in the pursuit of “rightsâ€. Right to vs right against being the problem. Original rights were a protection from coercion. New rights are a means of coercion where no-one can say no to the right bearer. The stories about public schools and special education are total madness. Waste of resources on monumental scale.Jan 25, 2008
Philip K. Howard, The Death of Common Sense: How Law is Suffocating America (Random House, 1994)Jun 08, 2015
I don't disagree with much of Howard's concise lament, but I do think putting "what we think is right" over a system of laws is the worst thing that could happen to this country. Not to say that libertarianism is a worthwhile political and social stance, but does he really trust the American people? Coupled with a book I just finished, Pilgrim's Wilderness: A True Story of Faith and Madness on the Alaska Frontier, it seems to me the laws of the government cover a fairly large area in a I don't disagree with much of Howard's concise lament, but I do think putting "what we think is right" over a system of laws is the worst thing that could happen to this country. Not to say that libertarianism is a worthwhile political and social stance, but does he really trust the American people? Coupled with a book I just finished, Pilgrim's Wilderness: A True Story of Faith and Madness on the Alaska Frontier, it seems to me the laws of the government cover a fairly large area in a systematic and predictable way, while the individuals that comprise this country are prone to thinking their point of view is the only view.Feb 22, 2017
This was recommended to me by a friend who's a lawyer. He raved about it, but I just couldn't get into it. I read the first 50 pages or so and then realized I couldn't remember a single word or concept being discussed because my attention was elsewhere the whole time.Oct 08, 2016
It's a start.Mar 17, 2018
I have a liberal bias towards this book, but I am glad that its information pierced my brain.May 07, 2017
Not much hope after reading this book... kinda depressing. American bureaucracy and our culture of rights seems so entrenched that I don't see a way out. One potential for an outsider president to make radical changes in the system??Nov 07, 2017
Possibly the least polemical polemic you will ever encounter.Jun 05, 2019
A typical listing of various accounts of bureaucratic counterefficiency. Rationalism is the problem as opposed to customary/evolutionary/trial and error approaches to dealing with problems. Poo poos on due process slowing everything down and minority rights harming the general welfare. Answer is simplify things and make individuals responsible... that is recognize the reality government isn't about laws but men. Also it's not as if criminals haven't always been romanticized, that's not just a A typical listing of various accounts of bureaucratic counterefficiency. Rationalism is the problem as opposed to customary/evolutionary/trial and error approaches to dealing with problems. Poo poos on due process slowing everything down and minority rights harming the general welfare. Answer is simplify things and make individuals responsible... that is recognize the reality government isn't about laws but men. Also it's not as if criminals haven't always been romanticized, that's not just a modern phenomena or result of modern horrors.Nov 16, 2017
Totally Amazing and Scary!Nov 14, 2019
This author has a substantial amount of experience from his occupation. I really enjoyed reading his mind.Take your time and choose the perfect book.
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