About Philip K. Howard
Philip K. Howard is a noted commentator on the effects of modern law and bureaucracy on human behavior and the workings of society. His latest book, Try Common Sense (January 2019), attacks the failed ideologies of both political parties and proposes a radical simplification of government to re-empower Americans in their daily choices.
Howard is also the author of The Death of Common Sense (1995), a bestseller which chronicles how overly-detailed law has similar effects to central planning; The Collapse of the Common Good (2002), which describes how fear of litigation corrodes daily interaction; and Life Without Lawyers (2009), which proposes rebuilding reliable legal boundaries to define an open field of freedom. His latest book, The Rule of Nobody (April 2014), argues that American government is structurally paralyzed and must be rebuilt to revive human responsibility and accountability.
Howard has worked closely with leaders of both major political parties in the United States. He wrote the introduction to Vice President Al Gore’s Common Sense Government, and has also advised a number of governors, including Democrats Lawton Chiles of Florida and Zell Miller of Georgia and Republicans Jeb Bush of Florida, Mitch Daniels of Indiana, and Bruce Rauner in Illinois. He was also a special adviser on regulatory simplification to Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Arthur Levitt.
