Something New?

Paul Light at Brookings released a report last week which concluded that “public demand for ‘very major’ government reform is at a twenty-year high” and that “confidence in government to do the right thing is at a historic low.” Citing our work, the report calls for “large-scale repairs to aging systems and broken bureaucracy.”

Nothing like that is on the agenda of either party. Democrats want to expand government, but have no vision to fix it. Republicans have no governing vision, and seem content to run against progressive extremists. This is unlikely to end well. “If you don't know where you’re going,” as Yogi Berra put it, “you'll end up somewhere else.”

American democracy needs an intervention. It seems to us that what’s needed first are basic principles, such as restoring the moral imperative of good government. Instead of self-interested demands, public debate should focus on how a policy enhances the greater good. Instead of defaulting to the status quo, policy discussion should demand a responsible policy for the future.

Here’s a short sketch for a new governing vision. In this new vision, governing choices pivot around a core question: What’s the right thing to do here? Americans at every level of responsibility must be re-empowered to make sense of daily choices. The moral imperative also requires policies that, for example, do not saddle future generations with our debt or with a planet that is irreversibly heated up.

Far be it for us to snap our fingers and expect responsible government. But don’t you agree that America needs something new? Change is not going to come from inside the system. Let us know what you think. Maybe we can help start a discussion that leads to a better place.