Not terribly long ago, I partnered with AEI Press to revive a lost classic book, Government Project by the great social scientist Edward C. Banfield (1916-1999). The book was published in 1951, and had been out of print for decades. My passion for the book started around 20 years earlier. I had read the book and been stunned by […]
How an Idyllic Italian Village Was Cripp...
More than 60 years ago, an American family arrived in a seemingly idyllic town in Southern Italy. Stone buildings resembled “a white beehive against the top of a mountain.” Donkeys and pigs idled in the ancient, winding streets. A town crier tooting a brass horn announced “fish for sale in the piazza at 100 lire […]
First We Kill All the Policy Wonks
The blog of the American Enterprise Institute carries my impishly titled, “First We Kill All the Policy Wonks” (January 21, 2011). The piece is a response to a smart post by Mike Konczal, a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute. Its subject? Edward C. Banfield’s essay, Policy Science As Metaphysical Madness (1977). Obviously, I do not […]