Jim Copland is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, where he has directed legal-policy research since 2003. He has testified before Congress, state and municipal legislatures, and international bodies; he has spoken before multiple federal conferences, commissions, and agencies; and he has consulted with the Executive Office of the President. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has awarded Copland’s research on civil litigation, and the National Association of Corporate Directors has designated Copland to its “Directorship 100” list of the individuals most influential over U.S. corporate governance.

He’s got a new book out: THE UNELECTED: How an Unaccountable Elite is               Governing America.  Behind the president and the Congress lie a host of unelected actors with government roles—and these actors, as much as the ones we vote on, are responsible for a great deal of how government influences our everyday lives.

Some of these actors, usually unseen, have emerged into public awareness in the current pandemic crisis—such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.  The point is simply this: the story of modern American government is hardly one that begins and ends with our elections. Unelected actors—like agency officials at the CDC and the FDA—make countless decisions that have enormous impact.