Saul Levmore, "What’s the Right Drinking Age? and Other Problems of the Slippery Slope"

Legal scholars praise "incrementalism" and "minimalism" in law, which is to say the idea that law should progress in small steps and lawmakers should intervene less rather than more. But the acclaim for these approaches ignores the role of interest groups in our legal system. There are many issues where there is good reason to think that legislating step-by-step is a recipe for getting to the wrong result.

Saul Levmore is Dean and William B. Graham Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School. This talk was recorded on November 10, 2009 as part of the Chicago's Best Ideas Series.