Can We Still Govern?

Can We Still Govern? explores the intersection of government quality, public policy, administration burdens, and political influence on governmental functionality. It addresses issues like DEI, administrative competence, political accountability, the impact of ideological priorities over organizational goals, and strategies to improve governance through reducing administrative sludge and protecting democratic processes.

Government Quality Public Policy Administrative Burdens Political Accountability Ideological Influence on Governance Democratic Processes Organizational Management Judicial Decisions

The hottest Substack posts of Can We Still Govern?

And their main takeaways

Make America Hungary Again

148 implied HN points • 13 Mar 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Democracy Authoritarianism Media Control Higher education Bureaucracy
  1. The MAGA movement's admiration for Viktor Orban signifies a desire for authoritarianism over greatness, as demonstrated by Orban's undemocratic tactics in Hungary.
  2. Orban's success lies in his ability to consolidate power by controlling institutions like the media, judiciary, and higher education, mirroring patterns seen in the potential rise of American Orbanism.
  3. Orban's strategy includes increasing control over the bureaucracy to create a network of loyalists, leading to a corrupt system enabling his authoritarian rule, which American politicians are observing for potential application.

White Christian nationalism: the most powerful identity politics

205 implied HN points • 28 Feb 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Identity politics Religious freedom State power Legislation
  1. Christian nationalism is a powerful form of identity politics, blending far-right Christianity with nationalism, associated with support for political violence and racial identity.
  2. Christian nationalism operates by appealing to a sense of grievance and persecution among White Christians, leading to a defense of White supremacy and denial of discrimination against Black individuals.
  3. Under a Christian nationalist state, winners are White reactionary politics while losers include religious, racial, and sexual minorities, as well as the erosion of reproductive rights and bodily autonomy.

Candidate profile: Bethany Mandel

193 implied HN points • 21 Feb 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Education Health Public Health Social Issues
  1. Bethany Mandel is posing as a Democrat for a predominantly Democratic region, even though she identifies as a Republican and campaigns in an anti-woke, right-wing style.
  2. Mandel raises concerns about legal fees in the school district yet is actively suing the school while also suing teachers for blocking her on Twitter, showing a lack of consistency.
  3. Mandel, despite not having her children attend school, is critical toward public services, misunderstands the social contract, flip-flopped on vaccines during the pandemic, and lacks tolerance for views diverging from her own.

What "Mandate for Leadership" Says About the GOP's Governing Philosophy

124 implied HN points • 06 Mar 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Authoritarianism Conservative movement Trump administration Political Ideologies
  1. The GOP's governing philosophy outlined in 'Mandate for Leadership' leans towards authoritarianism and challenges traditional democratic norms.
  2. The document highlights a disdain for science and evidence, advocating for the dismissal of agencies producing research on climate change.
  3. There is a push in 'Mandate for Leadership' to purge ideologically suspect individuals, including enforcing terminations for past participation in diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
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What David Brooks Gets Wrong about the Time Tax

196 implied HN points • 22 Jan 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Government Policy Conservatism Administration Bureaucracy
  1. David Brooks addresses administrative burdens, but overlooks contributions from private companies and conservative politicians as well.
  2. Bureaucracies tend to create administrative burdens, which accumulate over time and may not align with the organization's mission.
  3. Brooks proposes sludge audits and enhancing customer experience as ways to address bureaucracy, emphasizing that markets also generate administrative burdens.

Choosing to rebuild state capacity - IRS edition

90 implied HN points • 14 Feb 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics
  1. Collecting revenue is crucial for a country to achieve its policy goals, so supporting a functional revenue system benefits everyone.
  2. The IRS has become more effective in closing the tax gap with new funding, aiming to collect billions from tax evaders.
  3. Improving customer service and piloting new innovations like free e-filing can modernize the IRS, but funding disputes and political opposition may hinder progress.

Why the First Impeachment Matters

157 implied HN points • 09 Jan 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Impeachment Foreign Policy Congress Whistleblowers Accountability
  1. The first impeachment reveals how Trump thinks about public power and governs.
  2. Trump's actions during the first impeachment show he prioritizes personal interests in foreign policy and seeks to usurp Congressional power.
  3. In a second Trump administration, expect evasions of accountability, loyalty to political hacks, and attacks on career officials who do the right thing.

The surveilled campus

239 implied HN points • 18 Nov 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Free speech Higher education
  1. Story highlights how the professional outrage machine targets faculty and students on American campuses.
  2. Conservative campus groups use tactics like building plywood walls to provoke and surveil, leading to media scrutiny and consequences for individuals.
  3. Incidents like these reveal a trend of surveillance, recording, and media pressure for punishment that undermines trust and community on college campuses.

A tangible thing you can do today to fight Trump's takeover of the federal government

215 implied HN points • 15 Nov 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Policy Government Civil Service Accountability Partisanship
  1. You can take action against Trump's attempt to politicize the federal government by commenting on a proposed rule to neuter Schedule F.
  2. Public comments on rules can influence policy decisions and help protect the independence of the bureaucracy.
  3. Increasing politicization of government agencies can lead to lower performance, reduced accountability, and less responsiveness to Congress and the public.

The weirdo hypocrites behind the book bans

160 implied HN points • 10 Dec 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Education Gender identity
  1. The book banners exhibit hypocrisy by misrepresenting books, their identities, and their motives.
  2. Individual motives behind the effort to ban books vary, including sincere fears, business strategies, and media or political profile building.
  3. Many prominent figures leading book bans display questionable judgment, engage in political stunts, and lack the trustworthiness to make educational decisions.

What I wrote in the New York Times about Trump's authoritarian plans

172 implied HN points • 28 Nov 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Authoritarianism Government Public Services Democracy
  1. The stakes are high as Trump aims to transform the American government in an authoritarian direction.
  2. Trump's plan involves appointing loyalists, undermining career civil servants, and leveraging government resources for his personal and political gain.
  3. There is a serious threat to democracy if Trump's authoritarian blueprint succeeds, leading to a weaker government and dismantling of limits on presidential power.

The heads-I-win, tails-you-lose democracy

202 implied HN points • 15 Sep 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Democracy Elections Impeachment Political Power
  1. Republicans in Wisconsin are using undemocratic means to hold onto power despite losing elections.
  2. Gerrymandering in Wisconsin undermines democracy by allowing Republicans to maintain power without being responsive to majority opinion.
  3. The Wisconsin GOP's actions, like threatening to impeach judges, firing election officials, and proposing new maps, show a pattern of abusing power to protect their political dominance.

Unveiling the authoritarian roadmap

154 implied HN points • 02 May 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Authoritarianism Democracy Partisanship Administration Government
  1. Schedule F could increase politicization in the American government by allowing more political appointees and weakening job protections for career officials.
  2. The Heritage Foundation is pushing for a plan that could jeopardize American democracy by undermining the civil service system and concentrating power with potential for authoritarian misuse.
  3. There is a need for the center-left to develop its own agenda focused on restoring American administrative capacity, balancing the concerns about government efficiency with safeguarding democratic principles.