
Contents
11 From Infinite Ignorance to Knowledge that Matters
Get access-
Published:January 2016
Cite
Abstract
When I wrote this paragraph, I lived in the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan, which is located in the United States of America. Here are some things that recently happened in these places. In the decade prior to the one in which I completed this book, members of Congress proposed over 40,000 bills. In an average year, Congress passed and the president subsequently signed over 200 of these bills into law. My state legislature was similarly active. In one of the years when I was writing this book, Michigan’s House of Representatives produced 1,239 bills, 42 concurrent resolutions, 36 joint resolutions, and 174 resolutions. During the same period, Michigan’s Senate produced 884 bills, 25 continuing resolutions, 19 joint resolutions, and 106 resolutions. Michigan’s governor signed 323 of these proposals into law. In the same year, my city passed over 100 ordinances of its own. In addition to these laws, federal agencies such as the United States Department of Commerce promulgated thousands of rules and regulations. These rules and regulations are not trivial matters. Laws intended to fight crime, educate children, care for the sick, or accomplish other social priorities often lack specific instructions for what to do in individual cases. Rules and regulations provide these instructions. They clarify how to interpret and implement these laws. One other thing to know about these rules and regulations is that there are a lot of them. In one of the calendar years in which I was working on this book, federal agencies issued more than 3,500 rules spanning more than 82,000 pages of the Federal Register. Every one of these 3,500 rules, and the comparable number of rules proffered in other years, carry “the full force of law.” Beyond laws and rules, other participants in government activities make decisions that are legally binding on me. In law offices and court-rooms across the country, people challenge the meanings of the laws, rules, and regulations described above. Each case focuses on whether it is legal to interpret a law or rule in a particular way.
Sign in
Personal account
- Sign in with email/username & password
- Get email alerts
- Save searches
- Purchase content
- Activate your purchase/trial code
- Add your ORCID iD
Purchase
Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.
Purchasing informationMonth: | Total Views: |
---|---|
October 2022 | 7 |
November 2022 | 2 |
December 2022 | 2 |
January 2023 | 2 |
February 2023 | 1 |
March 2023 | 6 |
May 2023 | 1 |
July 2023 | 2 |
August 2023 | 4 |
October 2023 | 8 |
November 2023 | 4 |
December 2023 | 1 |
February 2024 | 3 |
March 2024 | 1 |
May 2024 | 2 |
June 2024 | 5 |
July 2024 | 2 |
September 2024 | 4 |
October 2024 | 4 |
November 2024 | 2 |
January 2025 | 3 |
February 2025 | 2 |
March 2025 | 1 |
April 2025 | 3 |
Get help with access
Institutional access
Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:
IP based access
Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.
Sign in through your institution
Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.
If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.
Sign in with a library card
Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.
Society Members
Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:
Sign in through society site
Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:
If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.
Sign in using a personal account
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.
Personal account
A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.
Viewing your signed in accounts
Click the account icon in the top right to:
Signed in but can't access content
Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.
Institutional account management
For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.