

Number of pages in the Federal Register, 1936 (16p) – 2014 (80,000p) - notsony
http://www.sovereignman.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Federal-Register-chart.png

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dalke
Just based on the name, I assume it's an anti-government, pro-gold, "frontier
spirit", etc. site. ... And yup, the first page confirms that in spades.

The graph is probably there to suggest that the number of rules that we live
under is overbearing, and nothing like the old good old days, when freedom
reigned.

As a note, "The first issue of the Federal Register was published on March 16,
1936. In 1946 the Administrative Procedure Act required agencies to publish
more information related to their rulemaking documents in the Federal
Register." \-
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Register](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Register)

The Federal Register exists because previously there was no central place to
find executive orders and other rules and regulations. That is, they existed,
but "even individuals working at the highest levels of government found it
difficult or impossible to keep track of all of them". See
[http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/the-federal-
registe...](http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/the-federal-
register/history.pdf) .

The history also suggests that the role of the Federal Register changed over
time, so looking at the simple page count is a poor measure. For example, in
the 1970s the publications changed to reduce "bureaucratese", and in 1974 the
Privacy Act meant that "agencies were required to publish in the Federal
Register digests of their systems of records containing personal information
about individuals."

We could certainly decrease the size of the Federal Register if we removed
laws like that. But would it be worthwhile?

