64 Cass Sunstein Quotes for You to Enjoy

Cass Sunstein

American Lawyer

Born: Sep 21, 1954

Government Law Own People Think You

Related authors: Asa Hutchinson Clarence Darrow James Carville Judy Sheindlin Kamala Harris Ralph Nader Robert Green Ingersoll William Jennings Bryan

Research shows that if people are talking and listening to like-minded others, they become more dogmatic, more unified, and more extreme. Personalized Facebook experiences are a breeding ground for misunderstanding and miscommunication across political lines and, ultimately, for extremism. Cass Sunstein

Facebook People Political Listening Become Research Others Extreme Extremism More Talking Misunderstanding Dogmatic Lines Ultimately Experiences Personalized Unified Breeding Across Ground Shows

I think it's a very firm part of human nature that if you surround yourself with like-minded people, you'll end up thinking more extreme versions of what you thought before. Cass Sunstein

Donald Trump has taken a battering ram to longstanding political norms - the unwritten conventions that make governance possible. But even before he decided to run for president, those norms were under assault. Cass Sunstein

On some issues, Republicans and Democrats disagree so sharply that compromise is nearly impossible. Republicans are not going to support a cap-and-trade program to limit greenhouse gases, and Democrats won't support a 1,000-mile wall on the border with Mexico. Cass Sunstein

Concerned about re-election, interest-group reactions, the media, or fundraising, many legislators have found it in their interest to refuse to cooperate with members of the opposing party - or to treat them as enemies in some kind of war, in which the whole point is to defeat and humiliate them. But the American people have been the real losers. Cass Sunstein

War People Treat Enemies Party Opposing Defeat Humiliate Members Kind Some About Point Re-Election Concerned Reactions Real Losers Been American Refuse Legislators Which Interest Them American People Many Whole Cooperate Media Found Fundraising

From the standpoint of democratic legitimacy, it's a problem if half the electorate, or close to it, declines to vote, not least because they may not feel much of a stake in the whole process. Cass Sunstein

Vote Problem Half Feel Democratic Because Least Close May Legitimacy Process Stake Much Electorate Standpoint Whole

If the air quality is terrible in Los Angeles, if a particular university is unusually expensive, if crime is on the rise in Dallas, or if a company has a lot of recalled toys, transparency can spur change. Whenever public or private institutions have to answer to the public, their performance is likely to improve. Cass Sunstein

Change Quality Crime Air Angeles Rise Performance Particular Institutions Likely Toys Terrible Unusually Answer Los Los Angeles Private Lot Spur Improve Expensive Whenever Public Transparency Company Recalled Dallas University

Trump is more performance artist than zealot. But he's finding enemies everywhere, whether they are judges of Mexican ancestry, parents of those killed in war, the current president, or children of immigrants. Whether or not he has a sense of decency, he is in grave danger of losing it. Cass Sunstein

War Losing Enemies Parents Decency Sense President Danger Everywhere Those Ancestry Immigrants Finding More He Performance Judges Trump Mexican Than Current Artist Children Whether Grave

Donald Trump may not speak explicitly of 'who we are,' but with his promise to make America great again, he engages in his own kind of identity politics, signaling that the nation has lost its sense of self. That gets to people. Cass Sunstein

Politics Great People Speak Nation Lost Own Sense Kind Promise Self He Identity Make His Trump America Donald Donald Trump Gets May Again Explicitly Who

Masterful politicians and effective agents of change tend to succeed by singling out and making salient some aspect of a nation's self-understanding, sparking a sense of recognition - and ultimately moving voters in their favor. Obama made it into an art form. Cass Sunstein

Art Change Made Nation Politicians Sense Favor Recognition Out Obama Some Tend Voters Masterful Making Singling Ultimately Art Form Effective Form Moving Succeed Agents Aspect

Behavioral scientists distinguish between fast thinking and slow thinking. Fast thinking is represented in the mind's System 1: it is automatic, intuitive, and often emotional. Slow thinking, reflected in System 2, is deliberative and reflective; it likes statistics. It's hard to think of a purer System 1 candidate than Trump. Cass Sunstein

Mind Slow Think Thinking Distinguish System Statistics Intuitive Purer Emotional Between Likes Scientists Trump Reflected Reflective Than Behavioral Candidate Often Automatic Hard Fast

When it imposes expensive regulatory mandates on the private sector, Congress often acts on the basis of interest-group pressures, anecdotes, and the emotions of the moment. The executive branch is hardly perfect, but it is far less likely to do that. Cass Sunstein

Emotions Congress Sector Pressures Anecdotes Perfect Likely Executive Executive Branch Private Private Sector Branch Often Mandates Expensive Far Far Less Less Regulatory Moment Acts Hardly Basis

Facebook seems to think that it would be liberating if everyone's News Feed could be personalized so that people see only and exactly what they want. Don't believe it. That's a prison. Cass Sunstein

News Facebook People Prison Believe Think Everyone Liberating Would Would-Be Exactly Exactly What See Seems Only Could Feed Want Personalized

For consumers, the lesson is simple: Genetically modified foods are safe to eat. Cass Sunstein

Simple Lesson Eat Foods Consumers Genetically Safe Modified

Voters like to fall in love with presidential candidates, at least a little bit. Cass Sunstein

Love Fall Presidential Bit Like Voters Least Candidates Little Little Bit

When it comes to discrimination, Americans pride ourselves on how far we've come. Racial segregation is history. Explicit sex discrimination is banned. Same-sex marriage is the law of the land. But amidst all the progress, the male-female wage gap persists, and it's big. Cass Sunstein

History Marriage Progress Law Pride Sex Big Ourselves Segregation Come How How Far Wage Discrimination Persists American Same-Sex Same-Sex Marriage Banned Explicit Land Far Racial Gap Amidst

We live in a period in which political disagreements are routinely handed over to the courts. Whenever you think that the president is wrong, you might well cry out that he has violated the Constitution - and ask federal judges to rule accordingly. Cass Sunstein

You Constitution Political Live Think President Rule Out Federal Disagreements He Wrong Over Cry Period Well Judges Courts Handed Accordingly Whenever Which Might Ask Violated

If the prospect of a bad result gets the heart racing - a plane crash, a terrible disease, a loss of 30 percent of your portfolio - most people will take strong steps to avoid it. They will pay too little attention to a comforting thought, which is that worst-case scenarios usually don't come to fruition. Cass Sunstein

Heart People Comforting Strong Result Will Thought Pay Too Bad Percent Scenarios Take Attention Steps Prospect Come Most Terrible Loss Disease Gets Crash Fruition Which Little Little Attention Plane Plane Crash Racing Your Avoid Portfolio

Like a bank run, a decline in stock prices creates its own momentum. Cass Sunstein

Own Run Prices Like Stock Bank Decline Creates Momentum

Bottom 10 Percent progressives are not enthusiastic about concentrations of wealth. But that's not what keeps them up at night. Their focus is on deprivation and lack of opportunity. They're motivated by empathy for people who are suffering, rather than outrage over unjustified wealth. Cass Sunstein

Suffering People Wealth Opportunity Focus Unjustified Progressives Enthusiastic About Percent Rather Outrage Bottom Empathy Over Motivated Up Than Lack Them Deprivation Who Keeps Night

A few weeks ago, I was at the gym, talking to a friend about politics. Overhearing the conversation, a young man - maybe 25 years old - interrupted to say, 'Obama? He hasn't done a single thing!' Cass Sunstein

The economic analysis of law has had many good ideas. It's had one great idea -like, world-transforming idea, I think. And the idea is, when you're stuck, minimize the sum of the costs of decisions and the costs of errors. Cass Sunstein

The only answer to the question 'Which is the worst of the 'Star Wars' movies?' is, there is no worst 'Star Wars' movie. There - one might be the least amazing and fantastic, but there's none that is the worst of the 'Star Wars' movies. Cass Sunstein

Amazing Worst Only Answer None Least Question Movie Which Movies Fantastic Might Wars Star Star Wars

Web publishing can create common spaces; it all depends on how we, the readers and sometimes the producers, react to technological change. If we sort ourselves into narrow groups, common spaces will be in big trouble. But there's no reason not to have common spaces on the Internet. There are lots of them out there. Cass Sunstein

Change Sometimes Internet Will Trouble Big Ourselves Out Web No Reason React Sort Readers How Narrow Lots Common Depends Spaces Them Create Producers Reason Groups Publishing Technological

We shouldn't limit the idea of 'policy recommendations' to regulators. On the Internet, all of us are, in a sense, policymakers. Cass Sunstein

Internet Sense Recommendations Idea Policy Policymakers Limit Us

If you have an architecture of control, let's say, where you select in advance everything that's going to affect your life, then you're going to live in a very small world that will have an echo chamber feature... Pandora, which I love, actually feeds into that. Cass Sunstein

Life Love You Architecture World Will Control Live Pandora Everything Say Echo Small Feature Select Advance Feeds Affect Very Going Where Which Then Your Chamber Actually

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