Richard J. Pierce, Jr. · August 2008
76 GEO. WASH. L. REV. 1216 (2008)
Paul Verkuil’s new book, Outsourcing Sovereignty, is an important contribution to the debate about the appropriate roles of public agencies and private contractors in governing the nation. Verkuil begins by tracing the modern history of the trend toward privatization of governmental functions from Iran Contra to private prisons, Katrina, and Iraq. He then paints an ugly picture of excess that includes too many private contracts, contracting out of functions that should be retained in-house, too many no-bid contracts, and too few government employees to draft and negotiate the contracts and monitor the performance of the growing army of contractors. The book focuses primarily on outsourcing of military and other national security functions.
