The Founders of the American Republic were intensely concerned with the dangers of "faction" (now, we say "special interest"). They knew that factions will always exist, and they designed our government so as to force factions to neutralize each other, like architects analyzing the lines of force necessary to hold up a building.
The Founders of the American Republic were intensely concerned with the dangers of "faction" (now, we say "special interest"). They knew that factions will always exist, and they designed our government so as to force factions to neutralize each other, like architects analyzing the lines of force necessary to hold up a building.
U.S. politics has gone astray by losing this fundamental insight of the Founders. Rather than maintaining a structure of government that controls the power of faction, we have allowed a variety of factions to capture parts of the government and then use its powers to spend, to tax, to legislate, and to regulate for their own purposes.
To say we have "allowed" capture is too weak. We celebrate capture. Our educated elites, in particular, regard hijacks of government power for private benefit as a basic characteristic of government, not an evil to be resisted. The result is that we have become a "Special Interest State". (Call it "Big SIS").
Worse, we have embraced a virulent form of Big SIS called "systemic corruption". In this, the political system creates economic advantages for special interests and then demands that part of the profits be fed back into the political system, where they are used to enhance the power of the political incumbents.
[This] is that rarest of books, the kind which tells you things you’ve long suspected about big government but had never systematically put together. . . . Whether the present is up to the task [of keeping the Republic] is an open question. Perhaps putting the question is itself the single most crucial step. And there is no better guide for understanding it . . . . [The book] is invaluable in understanding the current crisis and I unhesitatingly recommend it.
Carol LaGrasse
The publication of Big Sis treats the reader to Jim Delong’s historical and political brilliance applied to today’s client state. Point by point, the author erases any question that we are subject to a system of government diametrically opposed to the Founders’ design of checks and balances. This fine book consistently leaps beyond the typical calls for reform, which are usually superficial, by explaining the assumptions and structures that facilitate today’s Behemoth
Carter Anon
This is a great book. Intelligent, thoughtful, well researched,and efficient. Profound insights into what is really going on in Washington and what to do to make our country a great place to live for ALL of us, no matter what your party affiliation is. I love the writing style. It is scholarly but funny and simple to grasp. I laughed out loud 5 times in the first chapter.
Donald Boudreaux
Big-SIS is a bloated and obnoxious bully. In this superb volume Jim DeLong bracingly documents her nastiness, and prescribes a strict regimen to improve her constitution.
Nick Schulz
Jim DeLong is a national treasure - a peerless thinker with a patriot's heart. Ending 'Big SIS' outlines the existential struggle for the country's soul. The future of the Republic hangs in the balance, and we ignore him at our peril.
JAMES V. DeLONG has lived in the belly of the Washington Beltway Beast for over 40 years, working for government agencies, trade associations, think tanks, and himself.
He has written two other books, Property Matters: How Property Rights Are Under Assault--And Why You Should Care (Free Press 1997) and Out of Bounds and Out of Control: Regulatory Enforcement at the EPA (Cato Institute 2002).
He has also written extensively for free-market oriented journals, such as The American, Reason, Claremont Review of Books, National Review, and others, and has worked for several conservative think tanks, including the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the National Legal Center for the Public Interest, The Progress & Freedom Foundation, Digital Society, and the Convergence Law Institute. He is currently a Vice-President of the last of these, a non-profit organization dedicated to research and education on public policy issues.
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Overview
The Founders of the American Republic were intensely concerned with the dangers of "faction" (now, we say "special interest"). They knew that factions will always exist, and they designed our government so as to force factions to neutralize each other, like architects analyzing the lines of force necessary to hold up a building.
U.S. ...