State Government

Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767-1835) now lives under the shadow cast by his more famous brother Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859, naturalist, explorer, geographer and much else), but Wilhelm was an important figure in Prussian-German history in his own right. He contributed considerably through his work as a diplomat, educationalist (he was one of the principal founders of the Humboldt University of Berlin), philologist and linguist. Yet The Sphere and Duties of Government (originally titled The Limits of State Action) has proved to be one of his most enduring legacies.

The rise of the administrative state is the most significant political development in American politics over the past century. While our Constitution separates powers into three branches, and requires that the laws are made by elected representatives in the Congress, today most policies are made by unelected officials in agencies where legislative, executive, and judicial powers are combined. This threatens constitutionalism and the rule of law.

Why GAO did this study. The internet is a global system of interconnected networks used by billions of people across the world to perform personal, educational, commercial, and governmental tasks. The US Government over time has relinquished its oversight role of the internet. A global, multistakeholder community made up of many organizations shapes internet policy, operations, and security. But the ongoing and increasing reliance on the internet underscores the need to understand the risks to its underlying architecture.

Federal agencies with a lead role to assist and protect one or more of the nation’s 16 critical infrastructures are referred to as sector risk management agencies (SRMAs). The SRMAs for three of the 16 have determined the extent of their sector’s adoption of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity (framework). In doing so, lead agencies took actions such as developing sector surveys and conducting technical assessments mapped to framework elements.

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to today’s discussion on federal perspectives to secure the nation’s infrastructure. As you know, our nation’s critical infrastructure sectors are dependent on information technology (IT) systems and digital data to carry out operations and to process, maintain, and report essential information. The security of these systems and data is vital to public confidence and national security, prosperity, and well-being.

Governments across the globe have begun evolving from lumbering bureaucracies into smaller, more agile special jurisdictions - common-interest developments, special economic zones, and proprietary cites. Increasingly, private providers deliver services that political authorities formerly monopolized, inspiring greater competition, efficiency, and customer satisfaction. These trends suggest that new networks of special jurisdictions will soon surpass nation states in the same way that networked computers replaced mainframes.

Nevada’s politics are in large measure the result of its turbulent history and harsh environment. Michael W. Bowers’ concise volume explains the dynamics of the political formation process, which is strikingly unique among the 50 states. Even today, Nevada is unlike the other states in its politics and culture: It’s economically right yet libertarian and the home of widespread gaming and a 24/7 lifestyle, has a high percentage of federally owned lands, and has one of the highest rates of urbanism in the United States, yet is often governed by rural legislators.