The Future of Democracy | What Americans Want from Reform
July 22, 2021
Joe Biden won the presidency as the candidate who would give Americans the bigger government that delivers more services they favor, but is still working on answering their call for very major government reform. The two are not incompatible, but reform has been a lost cause in Washington for some years. This conversation asked what Americans really want and how they can get it. It was based on Paul’s original series of posts on government reform for Brookings published in 2020, which you can read here.
Additional Reports
- The six government reforms we need in 2021 (Oct. 14, 2020)
- Washington has given up on big-ticket reform (Oct. 12, 2020)
- The true size of government is nearing a record high (Oct. 7, 2020)
- Federal bloat is at a 60-year high (Oct. 5, 2020)
- Trump’s government dismantlers have lost their plurality (Sept. 30, 2020)
- Public demand for government reform remains high (Sept. 28, 2020)
- The case for major government reform and how Biden can make it happen (Sept. 23, 2020)
- Six ways the demand for government reform will shape the 2020 election (Feb. 26, 2020)
Dr. Paul C. Light is NYU Wagner’s Paulette Goddard Professor of Public Service and founding principal investigator of the Global Center for Public Service, Before joining NYU, Dr. Light served as the Douglas Dillon Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, founding director of its Center for Public Service, and vice president and director of the Governmental Studies Program. He has served previously as director of the Public Policy Program at the Pew Charitable Trusts and associate dean and professor of public affairs at the University of Minnesota’s Hubert Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.