In the Winter 2011 issue of Democracy: A Journal of Ideas, Eric Liu and Nick Hanauer write, “The current dissatisfaction with government is not a mere perception or marketing problem, as too many on the left still believe. It is a product problem.”

But they argue that neither conservatives nor progressives have put forward good ideas on how to reinvent and reinvigorate government. Liu and Hanauer offer their own answer: a “more what, less how” government. In a time when we face enormous public problems and growing disconnection from government, what we need is “more government when it comes to setting great goals and investing to achieve them; less government when it comes to how we collectively meet those goals.”

Liu and Hanauer discuss their idea with Michael Lind of the New America Foundation and Megan McArdle of The Atlantic at an event at NDN on March 9. E.J. Dionne, Democracy‘s editorial chairman, will moderate. Tune in here on March 9 at 1:15 pm for a live webcast of the discussion.