For the people, and by the people

Elizabeth Wilkins writes in Democracy:

Defending the anemic institutions that frustrate the public is not a viable strategy for the left. And after the Trump Administration’s slash-and-burn destruction, we’ll have no choice but to build these institutions anew. We should take the opportunity to be bold in those efforts. This is a time to reimagine with urgency. Such a reimagining must happen around some core principles, including building in public agenda setting that is geared toward regular people rather than moneyed interests; eliminating internal veto points that slow down processes without sufficient upside; and adopting human-centered design methods to increase efficiency and customer experience. Here we must be clear: In a public context, “efficiency” does not mean cutting costs; it means delivering effectively on the public purposes to which government is set, including shaping markets, investing in infrastructure both physical and human, and providing an economic floor for people….

We must meet this anti-institutional moment and answer people’s frustrations with boldness and urgency.

Our utmost goal right now is to channel the public’s energy into results they can see and feel. And we must do this not only for people, but also with people. We need to design an agenda that rebalances power—one that starts from lived experience, draws our ambition from the scale of our challenges, and delivers the big, impactful policies people rightfully expect. That’s how we build trust and enduring momentum to shape the people-centered economy we need.

Read more here.