Cass Sunstein People Quotations

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.

Democrats want to use government power to make people's lives go better; Republicans respond that people know more than politicians do. We think that both might be able to agree that nudging can maintain free markets, and liberty, while also inclining people in good directions.

Liberals are sometimes defined as people who can't take their own side in an argument.

The 'cash for clunkers' program was a big success in part because it gave people the sense that the economy was moving.

There's a big difference between the role of an academic and the role of someone in government. That's a cliche, but in academic life if you say things that are common sense and people nod their heads, it's not very useful. You're not adding anything.

When you think commerce clause, don't think technical and meaningless. Think in what ways can the elected representatives of the people provide protection against serious harm.

A lot of people are focused on climate change as a defining challenge of our time. A lot of people think it is a non-problem, at least in the United States.

For the Sanders supporters, there's a thought that the people who are well off are doing really great, and the system is systematically unfair, and that's a very deeply felt and serious objection to the current situation.

And so it's no surprise that people who object to the death penalty on pure moral grounds also think it has no deterrent effect, and people who like the death penalty on grounds of retribution tend to think it has deterrent effects. They like that, and they believe that. I think with climate change we're seeing very much the same thing where those who deny climate change, they don't like that, and they don't believe it.

I dealt with people with diverse political views. If you find people who are your political opponents, and talk to them for an hour, chances are you're going to like them, and they're not full of hate.

A program that saves young people produces more welfare than one that saves old people.

Those subject to capital punishment are real human beings, with their own backgrounds and narratives. By contrast, those whose lives are or might be saved by virtue of capital punishment are mere 'statistical people.' They are both nameless and faceless, and their deaths are far less likely to be considered in moral deliberations.

Once we know that people are human and have some Homer Simpson in them, then there's a lot that can be done to manipulate them.

Why should we be governed by people long dead? ... In any case, the group that ratified the Constitution included just a small subset of the society; it excluded all women, the vast majority of African Americans, many of those without property, and numerous others who were not permitted to vote.

People who know him in Washington, D.C., of various ideological stripes, say this is not the type to be a fundamentalist. He is clearly extremely able, and his opinions are real lawyers' opinions.

It makes people think the stakes (in a confirmation) are much lower than they are,

He's one of the most interesting senators of our time. The fact that the right was so concerned about him as head of the Judiciary Committee made many people think he'd be very careful in scrutinizing Bush's appointees. But I guess he has proved unpredictable once again.