America does not need more czars
TEXT OF COMMENTARY
Scott Jagow: Lots of speculation about who will land positions in Barack Obama’s cabinet. But Obama might also add some other positions into the mix, like czars. Commentator Will Wilkinson doesn’t like that idea.
Will Wilkinson: Remember America’s can-do, point man in the war on drugs, the so-called “Drug Czar?” Well, if you like czars, you’ll love President-elect Barack Obama. He’s proposing a new “technology czar,” he’s considering a “climate czar,” and he’s even floated the idea of a “car czar.”
In tough times like these, America does not need a dose of tragic Russian authoritarianism. America does not need more czars.
Did you know that the Constitution does not mention czars even once? I know, weird. The president’s cabinet is composed of heads of various executive offices. These offices, like the Department of Education, are generally proposed by the president and approved by Congress. But the president can create new sub-cabinet-level offices more or less at will — which is where most so-called “czars” dwell.
Since Nixon created the first “energy czar” in 1973, our government has become czar-crazy. But why? Has a czar ever delivered anything more than the illusion that somebody’s got things under control? Jimmy Carter bestowed upon America two inflation czars who then czared inflation to all-time highs. Reagan gave us the Drug Czar, and now that problem’s licked!
Czars and special new offices are mainly political theater — the equivalent of “looking busy.” But they can do harm. Czarmania is a symptom of the dangerous ongoing expansion of executive power. The idea that we need an executive branch czar implies that our democratic law-making bodies don’t have sufficiently singular will to just get it done.
Czars are too often a cosmetic reaction to problems government itself created. Politicians promise much, but government too rarely delivers. In the end, it’s the innovation and enterprise of private citizens, not a swarm of pint-sized Caesars, that really delivers the goods.
Jagow: Will Wilkinson is a research fellow at the Cato Institute.
Stories You Might Like
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
