About Common Good

Common Good is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization founded in 2002 with the mission of rebuilding reliable legal structures that will permit Americans to use their common sense.

Making choices for the common good is impossible if everyone is tied up in red tape. Reclaiming responsibility requires a basic shift—where law sets boundaries for free choice instead of dictating choices for the lowest common denominator.

Our Start Over campaign, launched in May 2011, aims to influence the 2012 election by organizing public support for structural overhaul of government and law. Only people, not rules, make things happen. Learn more »

Our Solution

We have developed practical solutions to bring reliability and balance to law in healthcare, education, and civil justice, as well as in areas such as children’s play and public employment. Our proposal for specialized health courts has been endorsed by every legitimate healthcare constituency, as well as by leading editorial pages and current and former government officials, including President Obama. Learn more »

Our Leadership

Common Good’s Founder and Chair is Philip K. Howard, a lawyer, civic leader, and author of The Death of Common Sense and Life Without Lawyers. The organization’s Advisory Board includes leaders from many areas of society, including former government officials Senators Howard Baker, Bill Bradley, George McGovern, and Alan Simpson, and Governors Jeb Bush and Tom Kean. Learn more »

Our Status

Common Good is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with operations in New York City and Washington, DC.