Why Government Fails So Often: And How It Can Do Better

by Peter H. Schuck,
The Boston Globe, April 9, 2014

Americans have a dismal view of the performance of their government. In 1958, 73 percent of respondents told pollsters they trusted Washington D.C. to do what is right "just about always." In 2011, 10 percent held that view. In "Why Government Fails So Often: And How it Can Do Better," Peter Schuck, an emeritus professor of law at Yale University, a former official in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and a self-described "militant moderate," attributes this crisis of confidence to dysfunction in Congress and poor performance of the government.