The Power of Public Input
October 13, 2023
What we’re learning as investment turns to implementation.
The Roosevelt Rundown features our top stories of the week.
(Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for SPACEs In Action)
Why Democratic Governance Matters for Implementation
In the last two years, we’ve seen unprecedented legislative wins for a green economic transformation—the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, to name a few.
Now, policy thinkers have turned their attention to implementation, and how and where trillions of dollars in investment will be spent. And new research from the Roosevelt Institute and the Climate and Community Project this week is helping that conversation take shape.
In “Lessons from Abroad: What US Policymakers Can Learn from International Examples of Democratic Governance,” Shahrzad Shams, Johanna Bozuwa, Isabel Estevez, Carla Santos Skandier, and Patrick Bigger examine six real-world experiments that show the power of public input, public and mixed ownership, and democratic oversight and accountability.
“As the case studies we explore in our brief show, public input, democratic accountability, and robust standards need not come at the expense of effectiveness and efficiency throughout the policy process,” Shams writes for the blog.
“As implementation continues at home, policymakers would do well to look to these and other international experiments with democratic governance if they are serious about building a just, green transition that endures.”
Read more about why this matters. And for more updates on the Biden administration’s economic investments, check out Sunny Malhotra’s tracker of trackers.
What We’re Talking About
If rebalancing power is central to #Bidenomics, then curbing the power of the finance industry needs to be as central to his economic vision as finance is to our economy.
In this week’s #BidenomicsBrief: How Biden can make that vision a reality ⬇️ https://t.co/CTK8wGXaLH
— Roosevelt Institute (@rooseveltinst) October 11, 2023
What We’re Reading
Too Many Economists Thought This Was Impossible [by Roosevelt’s Mike Konczal] – The Nation
US and EU Struggle to Form Green Steel Club [feat. Roosevelt’s Todd N. Tucker] – The American Prospect
How Amazon Keeps Workers’ Pay Low – The New Republic
US Antitrust Has Reached a Turning Point – Financial Times