Dru Stevenson, Professor of Law

 We’ve all heard the complaints—and perhaps made them ourselves. Whether it's during a campaign season or a frustrating afternoon at a government office, the refrain is always the same: "Why can't the government just run like a business?" We imagine a world where a leader could simply snap their fingers and make the "trains run on time." We crave the streamlined efficiency of a CEO who can pivot a company in a single afternoon. In our civic imagination, "checks and balances" often feel like nothing more than red tape and gridlock. But what if I told you that the Founding Fathers were actually some of history’s most brilliant (if accidental) economists? The Monopoly Problem In a traditional market, we loathe monopolies. Why? Because without competition, there is no incentive to improve quality or lower prices. A monopolist becomes unresponsive and self-centered. As it turns out, the same is true in politics. A political monopoly—an autocracy or a d...