Bureaucracy Quote by Philip K. Howard
““By exiling human judgment in the last few decades, modern law changed role from useful tool to brainless tyrant. This legal regime will never be up to the job, any more than the Soviet system of central planning was, because ti can't think. The comedy of law's sterile logic--large POISON signs warning against common sand, spending twenty-two years on pesticide review and deciding next to nothing, allowing fifty-year-old white men to sue for discrimination--is all too reminiscent of the old jokes we used to hear about life in the Eastern bloc. Judgement is to law as water is to crops. It should not be surprising that law has become brittle, and society along with it.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Death of Expertise, 2011
Modern law has become overly bureaucratic, losing flexibility and common sense, resembling rigid central planning.
In simple terms: Law is too rigid and detached from real judgment.
Key Takeaway
Reintroduce practical judgment into law.
Themes
law
bureaucracy
rigidity
expertise
society
Mood
critical
concerned
Type
analytical
commentary
When to use this quote
- policy drafting
- regulatory review
- public administration
- judicial reform
Key Concepts
central planning
logic
judgment
flexibility
Questions to Reflect On
- How can law balance expertise with common sense?
- What safeguards prevent bureaucratic overreach?
A Different Perspective
Legal systems cannot replace human discretion entirely.
![“When the fountains of government [borrowing] abundance began to dry up, when through lack of funds and the impossibility of negotiating fresh loans the state was forced to check the extension of bureaucracy and to put a stop to public works, then and then only did the Italians realize what it…” quote by John T. Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/908/john-t-flynn-18493_abundance_when-the-fountains-of-government-borrowi_2663.jpg)
![“[The Utopia of Rules] should offer a challenge to us all. Should we just accept this bureaucracy as inevitable? Or is there a way to get rid of all those hours spent listening to bad call-centre music? Do policemen, academics, teachers and doctors really need to spend half their time filling in…” quote by Gillian Tett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/223/gillian-tett-57286_accepting_the-utopia-of-rules-should-offer-a-chall_39418.jpg)
