Government is not a market. It is an alternative form of production which is founded on the need for collective action.
Modern government is organized on “clear law,” the false premise that by
making laws detailed enough to take in all possible circumstances, we
can avoid human error. And so over the last few decades, law has gotten
ever more granular. But all that regulatory detail, like sediment in a
harbor, makes it hard to get anywhere......What’s the alternative? Put humans back in charge. Law should generally
be an open framework, mainly principles and goals, leaving room for
responsible people to make decisions and be held accountable for
results. Law based on principles leaves room for the decision-maker
always to act on this question: What’s the right thing to do here?
But can we have principle-based law in an era where political beliefs are so polarized?
When Humans Lose Control of Government - The Atlantic
Everyone wants simpler regulations, but the real sticking point is how. The fact that regulations are so complex now only makes them harder to simplify without losing something important. I think the only feasible way to streamline regulations is to make them more localized, but then you run into the issue of overlapping regulations between areas and an inability to address the major issues that are best dealt with on a national or global scale, i.e poverty and environmental issues. I suppose it's always a matter of tradeoffs.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Philip that the main issue is how to implement simpler regulations. While I don't disagree with you that localizing regulations may simplify them, I think that the size of government is an issue here. More specifically, the article states how there are around 20 million employees carrying out necessary tasks. Furthermore, there is nearly no framework for these employees to be held accountable. In order for the government to regulate more effectively, government employees must be held accountable. In practice I imagine this taking the form of more effective hiring practices along with monitoring employee competence, and doing away with those who aren't.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that it is difficult to simplify regulation. Regulation, itself, is a flaw system. Regulation loses its value when no one holds accountable for anything. Regulation is for the benefit of the people but for a long time, it has been changed to government's benefit. Philip K. Howard also suggests 3 examples of simplifying regulation but I highly doubt any of the examples is applicable to the real world. If people dare to step up, to construct government with the legal framework and to make things happen the way they wanted, regulation would be effective.
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