Customer Reviews

Beyond Camelot: Rethinking Politics and Law for the Modern State

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There's a lot to like about Rubin's thought experiments concerning contemporary government.

The main point is simple enough--don't get caught up in loaded terms that cause diversions from the complex processes of actually managing things. His book points out that government is a messy set of organizations and processes run mostly by hired pros. He essentially suggests that we accept that fact and quit pretending like the whole enterprise has some sort of basic order or timeless philosophical underpinning. For Rubin it doesn't, and it probably shouldn't. He doesn't trash big ideas; he just sees the point in not getting twisted up in them.

For example, we should get over fixations with rigid ideals concerning separations of power in legal decisions, and toss out (or in his words..."bracket") democracy and power as "sedimented" terms. Instead, we should focus on what facilitates micro-analysis--readjust to legal and governmental "causes of action."

This is modern pragmatism at its best--poking a bit of fun at Aristotle and pointing out the irrelevance of the still dominant medieval political thought that distorts reasoned approaches to issues.

If I faulted the work, it would be along lines that it does not go far enough. By focusing so much on government rather than the full complex network of actors and forces at work in governing our lives, Rubin gives us a too government-centric picture of living Beyond Camelot. He hints at a broader notion especially in the first part of the work. It would have been an even stronger book if it had stayed close to a more open system or network focus--starting from a picture of civil society that encompasses government or something along Dahl's lines for polyarchy.

Still, this seems to be quite new thinking--a truly critical approach. Rubin points toward a government that is moral but not sacerdotal, and one that is respectful but not deontological.

The book carries a stiff price, but it is essential reading going forward for students of the administrative state.