Try Common Sense: Replacing the Failed Ideologies of Right and Left - Hardcover

Howard, Philip K.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1324001763 ISBN 13: 9781324001768

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2019

Synopsis

Award-winning author Philip K. Howard lays out the blueprint for a new American society.

In this brief and powerful book, Philip K. Howard attacks the failed ideologies of both parties and proposes a radical simplification of government to re-empower Americans in their daily choices. Nothing will make sense until people are free to roll up their sleeves and make things work. The first steps are to abandon the philosophy of correctness and our devotion to mindless compliance.

Americans are a practical people. They want government to be practical. Washington can’t do anything practically. Worse, its bureaucracy prevents Americans from doing what’s sensible. Conservative bluster won’t fix this problem. Liberal hand-wringing won’t work either. Frustrated voters reach for extremist leaders, but they too get bogged down in the bureaucracy that has accumulated over the past century. Howard shows how America can push the reset button and create simpler frameworks focused on public goals where officials―prepare for the shock―are actually accountable for getting the job done.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Praise for Philip K. Howard's previous books:

The Rule of Nobody: Saving America from Dead Law and Broken Government
"Amid the liberal-conservative ideological clash that paralyzes our government, it’s refreshing to encounter the views of Philip K. Howard, whose ideology is common sense spiked with a sense of urgency...[This] book drives home some large truths."
– Stuart Taylor Jr., Wall Street Journal

The Death of Common Sense: How Law Is Suffocating America
"The delights of this policy prose poem lie in its perfect details, its civilized tone, its sure sense of where the ill-made legal shoe pinches."
– Wall Street Journal

"[Philip K.] Howard’s argument is fresh, reflecting an impressive combination of wisdom, wry humor, and quiet passion...When we think about 'reinventing government,' it’s a good place to start."
– New York Times Book Review

About the Author:

Philip K. Howard is the founder of Common Good, a nonprofit that advocates for simplifying government. His book, The Rule of Nobody, was a finalist for the Manhattan Institute’s Hayek Book Prize. He lives in New York.

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1324001763
• ISBN 13: 9781324001768
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 160