“Paul Sabin has written a fascinating account of the forgotten history of public interest liberalism. He offers a powerful reminder that the attack on big government didn’t just come from the right but the left as well. In demanding that the government be held accountable, this generation of reformers undermined the confidence of many Americans in what our government institutions were capable of doing.”
Julian Zelizer, author of Burning Down the House
In the 1960s and 1970s, an insurgent attack on traditional liberalism took shape in America, built on new ideals of citizen advocacy and the public interest.
Public Citizens traces the history of this public interest movement and explores its tangled legacy, showing the ways in which American liberalism has been at war with itself. The book forces us to reckon with the challenges of regaining our faith in government’s ability to advance the common good.
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Comments on Permitting Reform
Had the opportunity to participate in a December 2022 roundtable on permitting reform for the Law and Political Economy Project blog: “Seven Reactions to the ‘Permitting Reform’ Debate”
The reconsideration of public planning in the postwar period
Grateful to have Public Citizens included in this thoughtful review by Garrett Dash Nelson of three books about post-World War II public planning: “Public Interests” in Places Journal.
Discussion of Public Citizens in Ezra Klein’s column in the New York Times
New York Times columnist Ezra Klein discussed Public Citizens and the history of liberal attacks on government in a recent essay about the fight over student enrollment and housing in Berkeley, California. Klein explained on Twitter— “It’s not that liberals were wrong then and right now. They were largely right then. They succeeded. And now their successes are contributing to our problems.”
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