The operating system of modern government is broken. Legacy bureaucracies should be overhauled so that government can deliver results without stifling human initiative. That’s the ambition of the bipartisan Campaign for Common Good, which was launched in June with a petition calling for spring cleaning commissions signed by 100 former government officials, university presidents, business leaders, and experts in public and social policy. They include former governors Mitch Daniels (IN), Kit Bond (MO), Arne Carlson (MN), and Tom Kean (NJ), and former Senators Bill Bradley (NJ), Dave Durenberger (MN), Wyche Fowler (GA), and Alan Simpson (WY).
The Campaign’s Founder Philip K. Howard, civic leader and bestselling author, will join us to discuss its goals and activities and the need to reboot government no matter who wins the presidential election. His government reform ideas have been embraced by the last four US presidents. Most recently, President Trump’s regulations to streamline infrastructure permitting are taken directly from Howard’s influential 2015 white paper “Two Years, Not Ten Years.”
This event will take place virtually on Tuesday, September 15, at 11 a.m. EDT. After opening remarks by Mackinac Center President Joseph Lehman, Philip Howard will be joined in conversation by Mackinac Center Director of Research Michael Van Beek. To RSVP and receive access to the forum, please register below.
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
11:00 a.m. to Noon EDT
Online virtual program
To join, please RSVP
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Registration is closed.
Philip K. Howard is a well-known leader of government and legal reform in America. A lawyer and bestselling author, he is founder of the bipartisan Campaign for Common Good. His books include the national bestseller The Death of Common Sense and, most recently, Try Common Sense. His 2010 Ted Talk has been viewed more than 700,000 times.
The son of a minister, Howard got his start working summers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory for Nobel laureate Eugene Wigner and has been active in public affairs his entire adult life. He is a prominent civic leader in New York City and has advised national political leaders of both parties on legal and regulatory reform, as well as governors across the nation. A graduate of Yale College and the University of Virginia Law School, he is Senior Counsel at the law firm Covington & Burling, LLP.
An engineer by training, Joseph G. Lehman joined the Mackinac Center in 1995 and was named president in 2008. During his tenure Michigan has seen numerous free-market policy advances in education, labor and state fiscal affairs. Frequently published in national and state media, Lehman also has trained more than 600 public policy executives internationally on strategic leadership and communications. He and his wife are founders of Midland County Habitat for Humanity.
Michael Van Beek is director of research for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. He has authored several studies for the Center as well as analysis and commentaries that have been published in The Wall Street Journal, The Detroit News, the Detroit Free Press, The Grand Rapids Press, The Oakland Press and elsewhere.
