Not Accountable

In Not Accountable, Common Good Chair Philip Howard argues that public employee unions have undermined democratic governance and should be unconstitutional. American voters elect governors and mayors who, under union agreements, have been disempowered from managing schools, police departments, and other public agencies. This is why schools can’t work, bad cops can’t be fired, states struggle under the weight of unaffordable pensions, and frustrated voters reach for extremist solutions. Politicians can’t break the union stranglehold because, among other reasons, they’ve sold their souls for union political support.

In this searing five-point indictment, Philip makes a case that constitutional government can’t work when elected leaders lose control over public operating machinery. The Constitution requires a “republican form of government” where elected executives are empowered to run government operations. Under the Constitution, public employees have a duty to serve the public, not organize politically to harm the public.

Not Accountable was published by Rodin Books on January 24, 2023. Read their press release here.

• Tevi Troy, "From Teddy Roosevelt to Reagan to Trump, Presidents Have Warned of Power-hungry Public-sector Unions," Fox News, September 1, 2025

• Father George E. Schultze, SJ, "Public Employee Unions, American Politics, and the Catholic Church," The Catholic World Report, August 31, 2025

• Dominic Pino, "Throwing out the garbage? Did you ask your local union first?," The Washington Post, July 9, 2025

• Stan Greer, "Federal Union Bosses: To ‘Save Democracy,’ Let Us Finish Destroying It," The Center Square, June 23, 2025

• Tracy Miller, "Driving a Hard Bargain," Discourse, May 13, 2025

• Howard Husock, "The Case for Breaking Up Big Urban School Systems," in Sketching a New Conservative Education Agenda: 2021–25, American Enterprise Institute, May 5, 2025

• Nicholas R. Bednar, "Presidential Control and Administrative Capacity," Stanford Law Review, April 2025

• National Review, “Trump Takes Aim at Collective Bargaining in the Federal Workforce,” March 31, 2025

• 3 Takeaways podcast, "Why Bad Cops Stay and Schools Fail," March 11, (interview by Lynn Thoman)

• Philip K. Howard, "Good Government Begins with Accountability," The Ripon Forum, February 2025

• WBUR / On Point, "How the Civil Service System Changed American Government," January 14, 2025

• Mitch Daniels, "Attention, Elon Musk: Here’s a Blind Spot in Measuring Government Efficiency," The Washington Post, November 25, 2024

• Quin Hillyer, "Musk and Ramaswamy Face Big Hurdles, But Their Aims Are Right," Washington Examiner, November 13, 2024

• Joe Klein, "And Now?," Sanity Clause, November 8, 2024

• Bret Stephens, "To Whom It May Concern," The New York Times, November 5, 2024

• Philip K. Howard, “Does Trump have the right idea about dismantling the Deep State?,” Government Executive, October 7, 2024

• Quin Hillyer, “Four Issues the Candidates Are Ignoring,” Washington Examiner, September 16, 2024

• unSILOed podcast, “The Pains of Legal Micromanagement,” August 5, 2024 (interview by Greg LaBlanc)

• Night Owls podcast, “Common Sense Comes to ‘Night Owls’,” June 17, 2024 (interview by Joe Klein and John Ellis)

• James Freeman, “The Deep State vs. Taxpayers,” The Wall Street Journal, June 10, 2024

• Philip K. Howard, “The New Spoils System: Government by the Unions, For the Unions,” The C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State, April 2024

• Quin Hillyer, “Bills to Rein in Public-Sector Unions Are Necessary,” New Orleans Times-Picayune, March 23, 2024

• The Glenn Show podcast, “Philip Howard – Getting Unions Out of Government,” December 25, 2023 (interview by Glenn Loury)

• John Steele Gordon, “Public Disservice,” The New Criterion, January 2024

• Russ Brown, “Public Sector Unions Are a Growing Threat to Taxpayers,” RealClear Markets, December 18, 2023

• Kendall Milender, "Not Accountable," The Sheet, November 17, 2023

• Washington Examiner, "Union Says If Homeless Can't Come to Campus, Neither Can the Children," October 9, 2023

• Dominic Pino, "The Chicago Warning," National Review, October 6, 2023

• Philip K. Howard, "Breaking Unions' Death Grip on Democracy," Washington Examiner, September 15, 2023

• James P. Gray, "Public Sector Unions Have Hijacked Our Governments in California and Beyond," Los Angeles Daily News, September 10, 2023

• Michael T. Hartney, “Uncivil Service,” Claremont Review of Books, Summer 2023

• Washington Examiner, “As Student Scores Plummet, Teachers Unions Play Politics and Make Them Worse,” August 20, 2023

• Ron Knecht, “Solutions for Some of Our Biggest Public Policy Problems,” Nevada Business Magazine, August 2, 2023

• Kerry Jackson, “Latest Example of California’s Dysfunction Is Pro-Union Constitutional Amendment 7,” Times of San Diego, August 2, 2023

• Marshall Kapp, “Not Accountable: Rethinking the Constitutionality of Public Employee Unions,” The Florida Bar Journal, July/August 2023

• C-SPAN, “Authors on Government Efficiency,” June 25, 2023 (from the “Re-empowering Human Agency” forum on April 19, 2023 at Columbia University)

• Kimberley A. Strassel, “How to Arrest the Government,” The Wall Street Journal, June 15, 2023

• Timeless with Julie Hartman podcast, “Law and Disorder,” Salem Podcast Network, June 8, 2023

• Capital Writing, “‘Not Accountable’ with Philip Howard,” National Review Institute, June 6, 2023 (interview by Dominic Pino; edited transcript: “Philip Howard Wants Public-Sector Unions to Let Government Work”)

• Dominic Pino, “New York Prisons Show the Danger of Public-Sector Unions,” National Review, June 5, 2023

• America Trends podcast, “Should public employee unions be outlawed?,” May 31, 2023 (interview by Larry Rifkin)

• Ben Weingarten, “Biden White House Uses Fuzzy Math to Tout 'Nearly 20%' Federal Union Growth,” RealClear Investigations, May 31, 2023

• The Vivek Show podcast, “Unmasking the Bureaucracy: Philip Howard on the Administrative State,” May 23, 2023 (interview by Vivek Ramaswamy)

• Rich Valdés America at Night, May 22, 2023 (starts at 44:12)

• Quin Hillyer, “New Orleans Should Not Put Public-Sector Union Power Into Law,” The Times-Picayune (New Orleans), May 20, 2023

• Federal Drive with Tom Temin, “This Lawyer Says Public Unions Are Not Only Wrong, They’re Unconstitutional,” May 12, 2023

• Philip K. Howard, “A New Fiscal Commission Could Decide the Budget Crisis,” The Hill, May 11, 2023

• Sarah Harbison, “Collective Bargaining a Bad Deal for New Orleans Taxpayers,” Pelican Institute for Public Policy, May 11, 2023

• C-SPAN / Book TV, “In Depth with Philip K. Howard,” May 7, 2023 (interview by Peter Slen)

• Tom Temin, “Author: Public Employee Unions Are Unconstitutional,” Federal News Network, May 4, 2023

• Donald F. Kettl, “The Gathering Storm Threatening the Civil Service,” Government Executive, May 4, 2023

• Larry Sand, “Are Public Employee Unions Unconstitutional?,” The Heartland Institute, April 5, 2023

• Philip K. Howard, “Why Government Unions—Unlike Trade Unions—Corrupt Democracy,” TIME, April 4, 2023.

• David Lewis Schaefer, “Unfireable Offenders,” The Washington Free Beacon, April 2, 2023

• The Steve Hilton Show podcast, “The Philip K. Howard Interview,” March 30, 2023

• Beg to Differ with Mona Charen podcast, “Is Accountability Dead?,” The Bulwark, March 24, 2023 (printed excerpt: “A Constitutional Remedy for the Ills of Public-Sector Unions,” The Bulwark, March 27, 2023)

• The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg podcast, “Teacher’s Pest,” The Dispatch, March 22, 2023

• Journal Editorial Report, “The Destructive Force of Public Unions,” Fox News, March 18, 2023 (interview by Paul Gigot)

• John Ketcham, “‘Not Accountable’ Review: Unelected Legislators,” The Wall Street Journal, March 14, 2023

• Jonathan Alter, “How to Make Government Work Again,” Old Goats, March 10, 2023

• Brendan Clarey, “Chicago School Principals Can Now Unionize. Critics Say That’s Not Good Policy,” Chalkboard Review, March 9, 2023

• Rich Valdés America at Night, March 9, 2023 (starts at 44:15)

• A.W. Maldonado, “Puerto Rico Was Ruined by Public Unions,” South Florida Sun Sentinel, March 5, 2023

• Mene Ukueberuwa, “Public Unions vs. the People,” The Wall Street Journal, March 4, 2023

• Philip Howard, “The Public-Union Spoils System,” National Review, March 2, 2023 (Not Accountable excerpt; also appears in the March 20, 2023 print edition)

• Jonathan Leaf and Daniel Kennelly, “Hollywood As Character,” City Journal, March 2, 2023

• HubWonk podcast, “Public Union Constitutionality: Returning Government Accountability to the People,” February 28, 2023 (interview by Joe Selvaggi)

• Caroline Banaszak, “Not Accountable,” The Ripon Forum, February 2023

• Quin Hillyer, “For Better Infrastructure, ‘Czar’ Mitch Landrieu Wants Fewer Stovepipes,” Washington Examiner, February 23, 2023

• Radio Free California podcast, National Review, February 23, 2023 (interview by Will Swaim; starts at 1:00:26)

• Potomac Watch podcast, “How Public Unions Undermine Effective Government,” The Wall Street Journal, February 20, 2023 (interview by Paul Gigot)

• Jace Lington, “Collective Manipulation,” The American Conservative, February 18, 2023

• Joe Klein, “Not Accountable,” Sanity Clause, February 17, 2023

• David Freddoso, “Imagine There’s No Public Employee Unions,” Washington Examiner, February 16, 2023

• Dan Janison, “Cop and Teacher Unions: Forever Entrenched?” Newsday, February 16, 2023

• The Political Mike podcast, February 16, 2023 (interview by Michael Taylor)

• Newt’s World podcast, “Rethinking Public Employee Unions,” February 14, 2023 (interview by Newt Gingrich)

• American Enterprise Institute, “Not Accountable: A Conversation with Philip K. Howard,” February 13, 2023 (forum moderated by Robert Doar)

• Newt Gingrich, “Current American Government Monstrosity Attacks Freedoms,” The Washington Times, February 13, 2023

• Philip Howard, “Public Unions Are Hurting Illinois,” Chicago Tribune, February 8, 2023

• George Will, “Policing and Government Itself, How Public Employee Unions Damage Schools, Policing and Government Itself,” The Washington Post, February 8, 2023

• Mary Williams Walsh, “All You Need,” Political News Items, February 7, 2023

• Howard Husock, “Public Sector Unions Under the Microscope, ” The New York Sun, February 1, 2023

• Mona Charen, “Getting Serious About Police Reform,” The Bulwark, February 1, 2023

• Angela McArdle, “Will Tyre Nichols’ death bring police reform? Police unions stand in the way of change.” USA Today, February 1, 2023

• Philip Howard, “The Liberal Case Against Public Unions,” The Daily Beast, January 30, 2023

• Steven Greenhut, “Public Employee Unions Are Obstacle to Urban Progress,” Pacific Research Institute, January 30, 2023

• Philip Howard, “Public Unions vs. the Public Good,” Reason, January 26, 2023 (Not Accountable excerpt)

• C-SPAN, “Q&A,” January 25, 2023 (interview by Susan Swain)

• Steven Malanga, “Philip Howard’s Endgame,” City Journal, January 25, 2023

• Michael Barone, “Are public employee unions unconstitutional?” Washington Examiner, January 25, 2023

• Competitive Enterprise Institute, “Not Accountable: Rethinking the Constitutionality of Public Employee Unions,” January 25, 2023 (forum moderated by Kent Lassman)

• The New Criterion, “The Critic’s Notebook,” January 24, 2023

• Gray Matters podcast, “Do Public Sector Unions Make Government Unaccountable?,” Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State, January 24, 2023 (interview by Adam White and Jace Lington)

• Mark Pulliam, “Ending the Stranglehold of Public Employee Unions,” Law & Liberty, January 23, 2023

• The Orange County Register, “The Tyranny of Public Sector Unions,” January 22, 2023

• The Federalist Society, “Book Review: NOT Accountable, by Philip Howard (Part One),” January 3, 2023; “Part Two,” January 4, 2023

• WBUR / On Point, "How the Civil Service System Changed American Government," January 14, 2025

• 3 Takeaways podcast, "Why Bad Cops Stay and Schools Fail," March 11, (interview by Lynn Thoman)

• unSILOed podcast, “The Pains of Legal Micromanagement,” August 5, 2024 (interview by Greg LaBlanc)

• Night Owls podcast, “Common Sense Comes to ‘Night Owls’,” June 17, 2024 (interview by Joe Klein and John Ellis)

• The Glenn Show podcast, “Philip Howard – Getting Unions Out of Government,” December 25, 2023 (interview by Glenn Loury)

• C-SPAN, “Authors on Government Efficiency,” June 25, 2023 (from the “Re-empowering Human Agency” forum on April 19, 2023 at Columbia University)

• Timeless with Julie Hartman podcast, “Law and Disorder,” Salem Podcast Network, June 8, 2023

• Capital Writing, “‘Not Accountable’ with Philip Howard,” National Review Institute, June 6, 2023 (interview by Dominic Pino; edited transcript: “Philip Howard Wants Public-Sector Unions to Let Government Work”)

• America Trends podcast, “Should public employee unions be outlawed?,” May 31, 2023 (interview by Larry Rifkin)

• Ben Weingarten, “Biden White House Uses Fuzzy Math to Tout 'Nearly 20%' Federal Union Growth,” RealClear Investigations, May 31, 2023

• The Vivek Show podcast, “Unmasking the Bureaucracy: Philip Howard on the Administrative State,” May 23, 2023 (interview by Vivek Ramaswamy)

• Rich Valdés America at Night, May 22, 2023 (starts at 44:12)

• Federal Drive with Tom Temin, “This Lawyer Says Public Unions Are Not Only Wrong, They’re Unconstitutional,” May 12, 2023

• C-SPAN, “In Depth with Philip K. Howard,” May 7, 2023 (interview by Peter Slen)

• Tom Temin, “Author: Public Employee Unions Are Unconstitutional,” Federal News Network, May 4, 2023

• The Steve Hilton Show podcast, “The Philip K. Howard Interview,” March 30, 2023

• Beg to Differ with Mona Charen podcast, “Is Accountability Dead?,” The Bulwark, March 24, 2023 (printed excerpt: “A Constitutional Remedy for the Ills of Public-Sector Unions,” The Bulwark, March 27, 2023)

• The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg podcast, “Teacher’s Pest,” The Dispatch, March 22, 2023

• Journal Editorial Report, “The Destructive Force of Public Unions,” Fox News, March 18, 2023 (interview by Paul Gigot)

• Jonathan Alter, “How to Make Government Work Again,” Old Goats, March 10, 2023

• Brendan Clarey, “Chicago School Principals Can Now Unionize. Critics Say That’s Not Good Policy,” Chalkboard Review, March 9, 2023

• Rich Valdés America at Night podcast, March 9, 2023 (starts at 44:15)

• Mene Ukueberuwa, “Public Unions vs. the People,” The Wall Street Journal, March 4, 2023

• HubWonk podcast, “Public Union Constitutionality: Returning Government Accountability to the People,” February 28, 2023 (interview by Joe Selvaggi)

• Radio Free California podcast, National Review, February 23, 2023 (interview by Will Swaim; starts at 1:00:26)

• Potomac Watch podcast, “How Public Unions Undermine Effective Government,” The Wall Street Journal, February 20, 2023 (interview by Paul Gigot)

• David Freddoso, “Imagine There’s No Public Employee Unions,” Washington Examiner, February 16, 2023

• The Political Mike podcast, February 16, 2023 (interview by Michael Taylor)

• Newt’s World podcast, “Rethinking Public Employee Unions,” February 14, 2023 (interview by Newt Gingrich)

• American Enterprise Institute, “Not Accountable: A Conversation with Philip K. Howard,” February 13, 2023 (forum moderated by Robert Doar)

• Mary Williams Walsh, “All You Need,” Political News Items, February 7, 2023

• Steven Greenhut, “Public Employee Unions Are Obstacle to Urban Progress,” Pacific Research Institute, January 30, 2023

• Rachel Koning Beals, “Tyre Nichols, George Floyd and Police Brutality: Time for a Public-Union Reckoning?” MarketWatch, January 27, 2023

• C-SPAN, “Q&A,” January 25, 2023 (interview by Susan Swain)

• Michael Barone, “Are public employee unions unconstitutional?” Washington Examiner, January 25, 2023

• Competitive Enterprise Institute, “Not Accountable: Rethinking the Constitutionality of Public Employee Unions,” January 25, 2023 (forum moderated by Kent Lassman)

• Gray Matters podcast, “Do Public Sector Unions Make Government Unaccountable?,” Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State, January 24, 2023 (interview by Adam White and Jace Lington)

• “David Webb Show,” SiriusXM Patriot, January 24, 2023