We live in a democracy, but are we governed by one? The Manhattan Institute’s Jim Copland argues persuasively, in The Unelected, that quite a lot of our governance comes from people we didn’t vote for, and whom we cannot vote out to hold them accountable for misrule. His tour of the unelected ranges further than a lot of Americans might think.
Unelected government in America is a familiar problem, starting with activist judges who hand down rulings unmoored from anything written in the law. But most of Copland’s targets are elsewhere. Many of his worst culprits are not those who seize …
This article appears as “Getting the Government You Didn’t Vote For” in the October 19, 2020, print edition of National Review.
Something to Consider
If you enjoyed this article, we have a proposition for you: Join NRPLUS. Members get all of our content on the site including the digital magazine and archives, no paywalls or content meters, an advertising-minimal experience, and unique access to our writers and editors (through conference calls, social media groups, and more). And importantly, NRPLUS members help keep NR going.
