Douglas J. Amy is professor of politics at Mt. Holyoke College. His \u201cGovernment is Good<\/a>\u201d website and Facebook page feature topics such as: countering attacks against government; how government promotes the public good; and how to make government more democratic. <\/strong>In an interview with Occasional Planet (OP), Amy (DA) shares some of his views:<\/p>\n

OP: You teach Introduction to Politics.\u00a0 What attitudes and misconceptions do college students bring to your class?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

DA:<\/em> <\/strong>They come in with an extremely cynical and negative view of politics. The word \u201cpolitics\u201d itself has a negative connotation for them, and they tend to take a harsh view of government. I find myself battling that cynicism all the time. I try to talk about the potentials of government, and I emphasize that becoming politically active is a noble activity, a way to be a moral person in the world.<\/p>\n

OP: But so many young people were involved in the 2008 election. Didn\u2019t that enthusiasm have a carry-over effect?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

DA<\/strong><\/em>: Somewhat. But Obama\u2019s ability to rally young people was an exception. Young people saw him as a symbol of hope, but in the past year, some of the old cynicism has crept back in. There\u2019s been some disappointment and disillusionment as the radical changes many were expecting haven\u2019t materialized. I try to tell students that they need to be idealistic, but realistic.<\/p>\n

OP: So, in realistic terms, have there been any qualitative improvements in government since the Obama administration came to power?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

DA:<\/em><\/strong> Yes, particularly in the regulatory process. President Bush put a lot of effort into undermining workplace regulations, food safety and environmental protection. He knew, though, that people actually liked those regulatory protections, so rather than publicly removing them, he just didn\u2019t enforce them, and he appointed people who didn\u2019t know much about regulatory work or who were from the industries that they were supposed to regulate. President Obama, on the other hand, has gone out of his way to find competent people who believe in the mission of the regulatory agencies.<\/p>\n

OP: Why don\u2019t we hear more about the good things that government agencies are doing?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

DA:<\/strong> When government does something right, it gets no press. Most of the time, in fact, government just goes along, day by day, doing a good job. That\u2019s not necessarily a new phenomenon in this administration.<\/p>\n

OP: What\u2019s an example of government doing its job well?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

DA:<\/em><\/strong> The Environmental Protection Agency is one. Ever since its inception, EPA has been very effective in improving the quality of the air and water in our country. And they do it very efficiently. EPA costs about $30 per year per American. It\u2019s hard to think of a better use of $30.<\/p>\n

OP: What\u2019s the source of anti-government sentiment?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

DA:<\/strong> Suspicion of government is part of America\u2019s political culture. This country was started by people who were suspicious of the British monarchy and authority in general. In fact, I think we should<\/em> be suspicious of any organization with a large amount of power\u2014government, church, whatever. I don\u2019t have a problem with that. \u00a0The problem is that the far right has moved from suspicion to hatred of government. That\u2019s taking it too far. We need to see that, as a whole, democratic government is working well for us.<\/p>\n

OP: If government generally works well for us, why do people voice such strong sentiments against it?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

DA:<\/strong> A lot of Americans are very insecure economically. We worry about how we\u2019ll be able to retire, how we\u2019ll afford to send our kids to college, pay for our healthcare, or make our mortgage payments. People are looking for someone to blame for these problems. One of the loudest voices is that of big business, which routinely points the finger at government. They\u2019ve made government a scapegoat to distract people from the real problems, many of which come from the private sector itself. The political right doesn\u2019t want to talk about that.<\/p>\n

OP: What frustrates you when you try to talk about good government?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

DA:<\/em> People often express self-contradictory views about government. On one level, they\u2019ll say they\u2019re \u201canti-government.\u201d If you ask them, \u201cDo you trust government,\u201d they\u2019ll say, \u201cNo.\u201d But if you ask them about particular government services, like EPA, local fire and police, or FDIC, they\u2019ll say, \u201cOh, yeah, that\u2019s a good one. That works pretty well.\u201d I often can get the conversation to that level, but in the end, people still say \u201cI think we should limit government.\u201d<\/p>\n

OP: If you could immediately change anything in our government system, what would it be?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

DA:<\/strong> Campaign financing. Our system is beyond broken. There\u2019s so much money flowing from corporations that the whole thing has become corrupted. And this corruption of the electoral process is connected to the way people view government, because they see government as responding more to the special interests that fund campaigns than to the citizens it\u2019s supposed to represent and protect. We really need public financing of elections, like they have in Maine, so that politicians can be less beholden to special interests.<\/p>\n

OP: What\u2019s your view of the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

DA:<\/em><\/strong> It\u2019s a disaster. We already had a problem with the influence of big business\u2014through PACs and individual contributions\u2014on elections. This decision will make a bad problem worse.<\/p>\n

OP: Who is your role model for making government work well?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

DA:<\/strong><\/em> Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He ignited a sea change in the way people looked at the federal government and its role in society. He put into play a new philosophy of government responsibility and activism. Before the 1930s, the government played a very limited role. Economic ups and downs were viewed like the weather: they just happened, and we endured them. Roosevelt didn\u2019t invent a new role for government; he got his ideas from the American Left and from Western Europe. They were way ahead of the U.S. in offering pensions and universal healthcare. And ever since then, we\u2019ve taken it for granted that when big problems occur, government is the only institution that can step in to deal with them.<\/p>\n

OP: What other websites or blogs would you recommend for readers interested in engaging in the dialogue about good government?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

DA: <\/em><\/strong>DEMOS <\/a> is doing a great job. Their Public Works Project has done a lot to advance the idea that our public sector has a crucial role to play in promoting the public interest.<\/p>\n

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Douglas J. Amy, professor of politics at Mt. Holyoke College, wants to remind America that government actually does a great deal of good in everyday lives. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2787,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[273,128],"tags":[449,169,862],"yoast_head":"\n