What People are Saying about this Website

More praise for, comments about, and discussion of governmentisgood.com.

"We recently came across a Web site, governmentisgood.com, that is worth checking out. …Governmentisgood.com aims to counteract years of conservative arguments that government is inherently wasteful, corrupt, and generally useless. The site features not just the expected arguments, like how government protects the rights of the disadvantaged, but discussions of why capitalism requires government, and a spirited defense of bureaucracy."

                 The New York Times Editorial Board

“Government is Good is a must-see website for everyone that cares about progressive values and the future of democracy in this country."

                Greg Speeter, Executive Director of National Priorities Project

 

"Government is Good is a masterpiece and a public service."

                Prof. William Hudson, Providence College, author of The Libertarian Illusion

"Amy cuts through layers of myth and provides a reasoned, detailed, and accessible rebuttal to the right-wing attack on government."

                 Prof. Joseph G. Peschek, Hamline University

"A Day in Your Life is very cool. Surveys show that 50-some percent of Americans think the government does very little for them. But what would a day without government look like?"

                Ezra Klein, staff writer at The American Prospect

"This is a valuable resource for those of us committed to public service."

                Barton Weschler, Director, Truman School of Public Affairs

"Governmentisgood.com is an incredibly important and innovative resource for both students and teachers of politics."

                Prof. Cynthia R. Daniels, Rutgers University

"Every American should spend some time on this website so they'll understand that a well-functioning government that protects the public interest is vital if we're going to restore the well-being of America's middle class. Government programs were responsible for creation of the vast middle class that dominated American life in the decades following the Depression and World War II, and as the corporate-funded conservatives undermined those programs, the security and well-being of the middle class has eroded."

                Merrill Goozner, author of The $800 Million Pill: The Truth behind the Cost of New Drugs

"A must read for public employees."

                 Vermont State Employees Association

"Thank you so much for putting up this sane, lucid, democratic website. As conservatives continue to appropriate the language (freedom, family, values, morals, etc.), it's time for free-thinking people to take back both our language and our government!"

              Naida Grunden, Author of The Pittsburgh Way to Efficient Healthcare

"Douglas Amy, a political science professor at Mount Holyoke College, may sound like a voice in the wilderness when he extols the virtues of government, but his message is a good antidote to the cynicism that currently pervades American politics. … While a certain amount of skepticism toward government can be healthy, there's been a negative streak in the body politic that only fosters cynicism and apathy. It can be traced back to the 1980s when, during his first inaugural speech, President Ronald Reagan declared: "Government isn't the solution; it is the problem."

Yet, in many respects, this became a self-fulfilling prophecy. By slashing funding for social programs and beginning a tilt toward privatization, Reagan began starving some of the programs of the funding they needed to operate efficiently. Yet, years later, we can see that privatization is not a cure-all either: Witness the calamity caused by independent security contractors in Iraq who are compensated far beyond what the average U.S. soldier would receive.

…Amy's message about good government ought to be embraced. It should also serve as a clarion call for voters to educate themselves on the issues and elect the right people to office based on their qualifications. No organization will ever run perfectly, the government included. Yet, we will only doom ourselves to disappointment - and deprive ourselves of the opportunity to improve the lot of all Americans - if we accept the notion that we just can't do any better."

                Editorial, The Daily Hampshire Gazette