Goldwater Institute

Enrollment at America’s leading universities has been increasing dramatically, rising nearly 15 percent between 1993 and 2007. But unlike almost every other growing industry, higher education has not become more efficient. Instead, universities now have more administrative employees and spend more on administration to educate each student. In short, universities are suffering from “administrative bloat,” expanding the resources devoted to administration significantly faster than spending on instruction, research and service.

Arizona had a breakthrough in 2010 that could end years of frustration about the state’s relatively low academic achievement. The Arizona Legislature this year adopted new reforms for K-12 public education that combine accountability, transparency and parental choice. Lawmakers modeled these changes on innovations first launched in Florida that have raised the average reading test scores for that state’s fourth-grade students by two entire grade levels over the past decade.

The Arizona Corporation Commission was established through the state constitution to regulate corporations, public utilities, securities, and other investments. But in an unprecedented move, the Arizona Corporation Commission sought to single-handedly determine alternative energy policy in Arizona with a bold and unconstitutional energy mandate in 2006. This mandate forced energy producers to embrace state-favored alternatives instead of deciding for themselves which options are most attractive in Arizona.

As recently as 2006, state revenue was climbing nearly 17 percent per year and few imagined that Arizona could be facing today’s financial crisis. Flush with cash, the state had three consecutive years of double-digit spending growth.

In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the U.S. Supreme Court considered whether the federal government could prohibit a nonprofit corporation from showing a movie that criticized presidential candidate Hillary Clinton within 30 days of an election. Answering “yes” would have declared censorship of political speech is appropriate under the First Amendment.