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The Unelected : How an Unaccountable Elite Is Governing America / by James R. Copland.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Encounter Books, 2020Edition: First American editionDescription: 287 pages ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781641771207
  • 1641771208
Other title:
  • How an Unaccountable Elite Is Governing America
Subject(s):
Contents:
Introduction -- Legislating Without Congress -- Administering Without the Executive -- Judging Without the Judiciary -- Regulating Without Rulemaking -- Criminalizing Everything -- The Deferred Prosecution Racket -- Litigation Nation -- Lawyers Without Clients -- Bottom-Up Regulators -- The Lawsuit Industry -- Magic Jurisdictions -- Act Locally; Sue Globally -- Stock-Market Politics -- Restoring the Republic.
Summary: "America is increasingly polarized around elections, but as James R. Copland explains, the unelected control much of the government apparatus that affects our lives. Congress has largely abdicated its authority. "Independent" administrative agencies churn out thousands of new regulations a year. Courts have enabled these agencies to expand their powers beyond those authorized by law-and limited executive efforts to rein in the bureaucratic behemoth. No ordinary citizen today can know what is legal and what is not. Some 300,000 federal crimes exist, 98 percent of which were created by administrative action rather than Congressional lawmaking. The proliferation of rules and the severity of sanctions give enormous discretion to unelected enforcement agents-upending the rule of law. Private attorneys regulate vast swathes of conduct through lawsuits, based upon legal theories never voted upon by the people's elected representatives. A combination of historical accident, decisions by judges and law professors, and self-interested advocacy by the plaintiffs' bar have left the United States with the world's most-expensive litigation system. Finally, state and local officials have increasingly pursued agendas to dictate the terms of national commerce. In reaching beyond their borders, these "new antifederalists" have been subjecting the citizens of Wyoming and Mississippi to the whims of the electorates of New York and San Francisco-inverting the constitutional design. In this timely new book, Manhattan Institute legal scholar Copland discusses how unelected actors have assumed control of the American republic-and where we need to go to chart a corrective course"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 320.973 C784 Available 33111010414502
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

America is highly polarized around elections, but unelected actors make many of the decisions that affect our lives. In this lucid history, James R. Copland explains how unaccountable agents have taken over much of the U.S. government apparatus.

Congress has largely abdicated its authority. "Independent" administrative agencies churn out thousands of new regulations every year. Courts have enabled these rulemakers to expand their powers beyond those authorized by law--and have constrained executive efforts to rein in the bureaucratic behemoth.

No ordinary citizen can know what is legal and what is not. There are some 300,000 federal crimes, 98 percent of which were created by administrative action. The proliferation of rules gives enormous discretion to unelected enforcers , and the severity of sanctions can be ruinous to citizens who unwittingly violate a regulation.

Outside the bureaucracy, private attorneys regulate our conduct through lawsuits. Most of the legal theories underlying these suits were never voted upon by our elected representatives. A combination of historical accident, decisions by judges and law professors, and self-interested advocacy by litigators has built an onerous and expensive legal regime.

Finally, state and local officials may be accountable to their own voters, but some reach further afield, pursuing agendas to dictate the terms of national commerce. These new antifederalists are subjecting the citizens of Wyoming and Mississippi to the whims of the electorates of New York and San Francisco--contrary to the constitutional design.

In these ways, the unelected have assumed substantial control of the American republic, upended the rule of law, given the United States the world's costliest legal system, and inverted the Constitution's federalism. Copland caps off his account with ideas for charting a corrective course back to democratic accountability.

Introduction -- Legislating Without Congress -- Administering Without the Executive -- Judging Without the Judiciary -- Regulating Without Rulemaking -- Criminalizing Everything -- The Deferred Prosecution Racket -- Litigation Nation -- Lawyers Without Clients -- Bottom-Up Regulators -- The Lawsuit Industry -- Magic Jurisdictions -- Act Locally; Sue Globally -- Stock-Market Politics -- Restoring the Republic.

"America is increasingly polarized around elections, but as James R. Copland explains, the unelected control much of the government apparatus that affects our lives. Congress has largely abdicated its authority. "Independent" administrative agencies churn out thousands of new regulations a year. Courts have enabled these agencies to expand their powers beyond those authorized by law-and limited executive efforts to rein in the bureaucratic behemoth. No ordinary citizen today can know what is legal and what is not. Some 300,000 federal crimes exist, 98 percent of which were created by administrative action rather than Congressional lawmaking. The proliferation of rules and the severity of sanctions give enormous discretion to unelected enforcement agents-upending the rule of law. Private attorneys regulate vast swathes of conduct through lawsuits, based upon legal theories never voted upon by the people's elected representatives. A combination of historical accident, decisions by judges and law professors, and self-interested advocacy by the plaintiffs' bar have left the United States with the world's most-expensive litigation system. Finally, state and local officials have increasingly pursued agendas to dictate the terms of national commerce. In reaching beyond their borders, these "new antifederalists" have been subjecting the citizens of Wyoming and Mississippi to the whims of the electorates of New York and San Francisco-inverting the constitutional design. In this timely new book, Manhattan Institute legal scholar Copland discusses how unelected actors have assumed control of the American republic-and where we need to go to chart a corrective course"-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 233-275) and index.

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