Postal Service

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In the nineteenth century, how was the postal service central to the progressive reform movement? I think it was seen as the exemplar of what a potentially open access public service could be in a way that nobody had really thought about any other function of the federal government being so universal. And another thing they saw in the postal service, and this is something that theodore roosevelt saw in the postalservice, was something that was being eaten from within by the patronage system.

Daniel Carpenter is one of the world’s leading experts on regulation and the foremost expert on the US Food and Drug Administration. A professor of Government at Harvard University, he’s conducted extensive research on regulation and government organizations, as well as on the development of political institutions in the United States. His latest book Democracy by Petition: Popular Politics in Transformation, details the crucial role petitions played in expanding the franchise and shaping modern America.

Daniel joined Tyler to discuss how to reform the hiring and firing practices for public employees, what the history of the postal service can teach us about internet regulation, the problem with the term “institutional capture”, what the FDA got right and wrong regarding COVID-19 vaccines, how nationalism is affecting vaccine rollout, why vaccinating the young is crucial for herd immunity, the drawbacks of a “Good Housekeeping” model of the FDA, how black box drug labels sometimes change behavior for the worse, the institutional variables of foreign drug trials and manufacturing, the pivotal role petitions played during the 19th century women’s rights movement, the French Canadian petition that changed history, why political scientists should study Native Americans, the benefits of fly fishing, and more.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video.

Recorded April 1st, 2021 Other ways to connect

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