The Death of Common Sense is a book written by Phillip K Howard. The author is an American lawyer and writer whose subjects of interest are law and bureaucracy, and how they affect society. Accordingly, this book explains the origins and problems arising from overindulging in bureaucracy. Laws have become at best ineffective and at worst, invasive and counterproductive.
The book is divided into four main parts that discuss one main point each. The first part criticizes the ridiculous number of rules and the details therein. In a bid to be clear and concise, the author argues that laws have become too broad and too detailed. These laws then become too rigid such that it becomes impossible to accommodate common sense in each individual case. The second part details the rigidity of procedures. The author argues that the decision-making process is derailed by a chain of processes, protocols, and paperwork. Instead of delivering timely and fair decisions, officers of the law put more emphasis on upholding the status quo.
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The third part argues against the recent rise of entitlement rights. The author states that the meaning of ‘rights’ has changed over the years, and in the present day, rights are designed to paralyze processes or even institutions. Hence, rights are no longer used to fight for freedom but to provide absolute power to certain groups of people. The last part presents possible remedies for the current excesses of bureaucracy. The author proposes that people must reject detailed, rigid, and rationalist laws in favor of common sense and general principles.
In conclusion, the text is an interesting and thought-provoking book that has been written in an easily comprehensible manner. It carefully tackles the problem of too much bureaucracy using real-life examples to put its arguments across. It has shown how the law had become ineffective and even harmful over the years.
