This piece originally appeared at State Capacitance.
If you asked DC insiders to define red tape, they would point you to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). This widely-loathed law regulates the process by which the government may request information from the public.
The PRA attempts to prevent government agencies from asking too many duplicative questions to the public. The Act applies if an agency wants to ask a question to more than ten people. If so, the agency must go through a lengthy approval process (normally taking many months), which involves 1) review by the staff at the President’s Office of Management and Budget, and 2) opportunity for public comment.
This requirement makes it practically impossible for agencies to conduct user research or ask the public if government programs are working. Absurdly enough, the public-comment requirement makes it mandatory to ask if the government ought to ask a question, while also making it difficult to actually go ask the question! The PRA is intended to prevent the government from harassing citizens, but in effect prevents government from improving its processes.
