The Death of Common Sense: How Law Is Suffocating America

186 Pages·2011·0.91 MB·English

by  Philip K. Howard

Praise for
The Death of Common Sense
“Mr. 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
“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
“One of the most important, thought-provoking books I’ve read in
years, and it will grip you from the very first page. Every doctor and
teacher frustrated by paperwork, every judge frustrated by
mandatory sentencing guidelines, every banker and businessman
tied in regulatory knots, every manager terrified to fire someone for
doing a poor job—every taxpayer—will find The Death of Common
Sense a blood-boiler. What makes it important, though, is not its
(amazing) anecdotes, but that it so elegantly synthesizes
them … and points to solutions.”—A T
NDREW OBIAS
“Lucid, economical prose … its lessons are valid and needed therapy
for our suffocating democracy.”—Baltimore Sun
“Packed with splendid examples of absurd regulatory
inflexibility.”—The Seattle Times
“A wildly important book which should change the direction of
public debate in this country.… Not often does a book appear that is
startling and yet so obviously correct.… Philip Howard gives
Americans their voice back.”—A H , former publisher of
NDREW EISKELL
Time, Inc.
“Howard cuts through the obfuscatory fog of government and shows
a path to sanity.”—The Tampa Tribune
“In less than 200 pages, The Death of Common Sense explains why
government drives us crazy. That alone makes for satisfying
reading.”—Fort Worth Star-Telegram
“Timely and well-done.”—Chattanooga News–Free Press
“A detailed and remarkably dispassionate account of how pointless
regulation has replaced common law and common sense. He is
right.”—The Houston Post
“Challenges fundamental and usually unexplored assumptions and
points out that the Enlightenment’s promise of wisdom through
reason is far from being achieved.”—Los Angeles Times
“A powerful argument … This is fresh thinking.”—St. Petersburg
Times
“A good book—will make the reader think … will generate further
discussion.”—The Detroit News
“Eloquent … a call for personal responsibility and initiative in
government … a valuable book.”—People
“A three-count indictment of some poisoned fruits of modern
liberalism … Among the things that make this book work are its
examples.”—Houston Chronicle
“An urgent, provocative polemic … It explains better than anything
I’ve seen why too many laws and regulations are everyone’s
nightmare.”—Lexington Herald-Leader
“Trenchant and often witty prose … A devastating indictment of the
micromanagerial excesses of regulatory law based upon the creation
of artificial ‘rights.’ ”—Commonweal
“Both provocative and important. It is not only a cry of outrage but
also a plea to force our government to make sense.”—The Flint
Journal
“A very useful new book.”—The New York Observer
Also by Philip K. Howard
The Collapse of the Common Good
Life Without Lawyers

2011 Random House Trade Paperback Edition Copyright © 1994, 2011 by Philip K. Howard All
rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Random House Trade Paperbacks, an imprint of The Random
House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
RANDOM HOUSE TRADE PAPERBACKS and colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Originally published in hardcover and in slightly different form in the United States by Random
House, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., in
1994 and subsequently in trade paperback in the United States by Grand Central Publishing in
1996.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Howard, Philip K.
The death of common sense : how law is suffocating America/
Philip K. Howard.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-67964410-1
1. Law—United States. 2. Law reform—United States.
3. Bureaucracy—United States. 4. Common sense. I. Title.
KF384.1169 1996
345.73—dc20
[347.3] 95-37410
www.atrandom.com
Cover design by Andy Carpenter
Cover design: Flamur Tonuzi
v3.1
For Olivia, Charlotte, Lily, and Alexander,
and for Alexandra
CONTENTS
Cover
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
I
THE DEATH OF COMMON SENSE
II
THE BUCK NEVER STOPS
III
A NATION OF ENEMIES
IV
RELEASING OURSELVES
AFTERWORD: START OVER
AUTHOR’S NOTE ON REFORM ACTIVITIES
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
SOURCES
About the Author
I
THE
DEATH
OF
COMMON
SENSE