The Death of Common Sense: How Law Is Suffocating America

by Philip K. Howard

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780679644101
Publisher:	Random House Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/03/2011
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	746,805
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

“Lavishly retold.”

Read an Excerpt

“This unique gift edition takes readers on a captivating journey through a mystical land filled with enchanting inhabitants. MinaLima’s imaginative artwork, exquisite detail, and engaging design recreate this timeless romantic adventure as never before.”

Table of Contents

I	The Death of Common Sense	1
II	The Buck Never Stops	55
III	A Nation of Enemies	111
IV	Releasing Ourselves	169
	Acknowledgments	189
	Author's Note on Sources	193
	Index	207

Editorial Reviews

Lawyer Howard's indictment of governmental bureaucracy and excessive regulations was a PW bestseller for 25 weeks. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The nuns of the Missionaries of Charity believed two abandoned buildings in New York City would make ideal homeless shelters. The city agreed and offered to sell the building for one dollar each. Yet the shelter project faltered: the city's bureaucracy imposed such expensive remodeling requirements on the buildings that the shelter plans were scrapped. To Howard, an attorney practicing in New York City, this is but one of many examples of the law's suffocating Americans by extensive decrees on what may and may not be done. His book is truly a catalog of horror stories, actually quite engrossing and adding to the story of public inefficiencies chronicled by David Osborne's Reinventing Government (Addison-Wesley, 1992). What Howard does not do as well, however, is offer guidance on remedies. His answer seems to be that we should take personal responsibility, gather up our courage, and step out into the sunlight away from government's shadow. More highly recommended as a study of the negative impact of law is Walter K. Olson's The Litigation Explosion (LJ 2/15/91) even though its focus is on lawsuits and the courts.-Jerry E. Stephens, U.S. Court of Appeals Lib., Oklahoma City

Library Journal

Incendiary . . . stimulating and controversial.”—San Francisco Examiner

“[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.”—The New York Times Book Review

“A valuable book . . . a call for personal responsibility and initiative in government.”—People
 
“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.”—The Wall Street Journal
 
“A brilliant diagnosis . . . forceful, trenchant, and eloquent.”—Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
 
“Excellent.”—The Washington Post

From the Publisher