Partners, Not Rivals: Privatization and the Public Good

In a time of increasing privatization of public services, can we ensure that profit doesn't outweigh the public good?

Nowadays for-profit companies manage everything from education to criminal justice. It's a fact of life that private commercial interests are here to stay. In school, students watch Channel One, a broadcast of news features and commercials geared to a young audience, and are served fast food from Taco Bell and Pizza Hut in their cafeterias. Privately managed prisons balance profits against the costs of rehabilitating and educating inmates. For-profit hospitals treat patients but also seek to maximize returns for their shareholders. What happens when public and private interests come into conflict?

As always, renowned legal scholar Martha Minow ("a human dynamo," says Stanford Law School Dean Kathleen Sullivan) sheds light on this complicated picture. She argues that these new arrangements aren't necessarily bad—market forces can be used to improve public services—but the partnership must be structured correctly. Certain public values must be preserved, including antidiscrimination and respect for individual autonomy and choice.