Three Thoughts on Iowa
Even mildly deliberative moments like the Iowa caucuses can lead to surprising outcomes because a very different public (no longer hypothetical) is constituted by the caucus form.
White House
Could the Iraq War have been prevented?
In the comments to a post on Republican obstructionism, my old colleague Will Roberts proposes the following historical counterfactual : if the American left had been willing to fight harder and dirtier, they could have prevented or arrested the war in Iraq. He goes on to propose a variety of actions that might have achieved…
Citizen Participation and Google: I’m Feeling Lucky
Over at GonePublic , my fellow Masonite Noelle McAfee has a post on the White House’s new Office of Citizen Participation, directed by ex-Google product manager Katie Jacobs Stanton . After a quick moment of congratulation, Dr. McAfee moves on to the critical reflections: Who is engaging whom? how? for what? At present, there’s little…
The New Executive Order: Cost-Benefit Analysis and Market Failure
I’m late in getting to this news, but on January 18th, President Bush amended Executive Order 12866 on Regulatory Planning and Review. The new order, EO # 13422, has some interesting and potentially troubling new provisions. Here are some links: pro, pro, pro, con, con, con. Public Citizen identifies three problems with the new order,…