The hottest Governance Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Technology Topics

Chartbook 399: Columbia University, the Trump administration and "ad hoc governance": Iterations of the "Unstate".

Chartbook • 1688 implied HN points • 24 Jul 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. Columbia University's deal with the Trump administration shows a new way of governing through specific agreements, which raises concerns about fairness and legality.
  2. This kind of deal-making in governance is different from traditional regulation and could undermine the independence of universities and the law.
  3. The idea of governance being shaped by ad hoc deals reflects a bigger trend in how power operates today, impacting not just education but society as a whole.

The Talented Mr. Newsom

Unreported Truths • 42 implied HN points • 25 Feb 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. He lacks a consistent ideology and deep policy understanding. Because of dyslexia he relies on memorized bullet points and constantly adapts his image to win approval.
  2. His record in California includes major failures on issues like COVID policy, housing, homelessness, and public safety, yet elite backing and a strong personal network have kept him politically resilient.
  3. His charisma, town-hall campaigning style, and ability to connect one-on-one make him electorally powerful and a real contender for higher office, even if he is seen as lacking competence or firm principles.

Review: How Africa Works

The Works in Progress Newsletter • 31 implied HN points • 26 Feb 26
🌐 International Governance
  1. Africa began with uniquely difficult endowments — low population density, weak education, concentrated landholding, and fragmented politics — and those constraints help explain its slower growth; as these preconditions improve, disciplined policies that combine land reform, export-focused industry, and directed investment could make a big difference.
  2. When smallholder farmers get secure tenure, inputs, training, and market access, productivity and poverty reduction follow reliably, making agricultural reform the clearest and most persuasive path to broad-based gains.
  3. Export-led manufacturing is a much harder route today because China dominates low-cost production, automation reduces labor intensity, and globalization has slowed, so services-led growth or other alternative paths may be more realistic for many African countries even if they produce lower-wage, lower-skill jobs.

DeSantis is Half-Right About Property Taxes

Progress and Poverty • 1885 implied HN points • 16 Jul 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. DeSantis wants to remove property taxes, but he should keep the tax on land. Building taxes can hurt investment and should be removed since they don’t help with housing affordability.
  2. Land taxes are important because they make sure the community benefits from land value. If landowners aren't taxed, they might just sit on land without developing it, which can hurt the economy.
  3. DeSantis has a chance to be a leader in property tax reform, but he needs to understand the difference between building and land taxes. Removing just the building tax but keeping the land tax could lead to better development and growth.

TBM 390: Governance by Principle, Not by Template

The Beautiful Mess • 528 implied HN points • 23 Nov 25
💼 Business Governance
  1. Governance models should be tailored to fit the specific context of a company. Just sticking to old processes might not work in fast-changing environments.
  2. It’s important to know that not all work fits into neat project boxes. Products and platforms evolve over time, and governance should reflect that fluidity.
  3. Many companies focus more on box-ticking than on truly advancing their goals. Effective governance should prioritize meaningful outcomes over just following rules.
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Who runs Britain?

Comment is Freed • 131 implied HN points • 25 Jan 26
🌍 World Politics Governance
  1. Many politicians blame a sprawling 'blob'—civil servants, regulators, campaign groups and judges—for blocking their plans.
  2. The prime minister technically has huge powers, but complex institutions, rules and well-connected stakeholders often make it very hard to turn decisions into action.
  3. Blaming the machine or shouting about willpower isn't enough; ministers often lack clear plans or curiosity about how to change systems, so reform needs careful diagnosis and targeted fixes.

Democrats need a theory of power, but democracies need a theory of accountability

Can We Still Govern? • 311 implied HN points • 17 Dec 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. Authoritarian "move fast" tactics that break rules and purge experts are not efficient — they’re haphazard, erode institutions, and weaken the government’s ability to deliver public goods.
  2. Progressives need a clearer theory of power to overcome excessive proceduralism and get things done, but that power must be balanced by the rule of law and institutional safeguards rather than personalist authority.
  3. Broad measures of trust don’t reliably show government effectiveness because they’re driven by partisanship; people value procedural checks and participation, so accountability and targeted performance metrics matter more than generalized trust.

Thinking of a Very Loose Coalition as an Organism with a Single Heart, Mind, & Will Makes You Stupid

Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality • 146 implied HN points • 14 Jan 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. Treating loose coalitions like Congress or a party as if they have a single heart, mind, and will is a category error that misleads people and damages reasoning.
  2. Political outcomes depend on specific legislators, their incentives, and party discipline; Republicans often enforce a stronger party line that discourages public dissent even when members privately disagree.
  3. Professional identity can be overtaken by partisan pressures, so experts (for example, economists) sometimes conform to party expectations rather than follow independent professional judgment because of career and selective incentives.

How Trump Broke Our Moral Compass

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 343 implied HN points • 10 Dec 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. Leadership rhetoric and actions have normalized cruelty, making extreme measures like extrajudicial violence and harsher rules of engagement seem acceptable.
  2. Widespread public apathy or muted outrage has allowed these outrages to go unchecked and weakened the country's moral standards.
  3. Dehumanizing language and policies toward immigrants and outsiders have produced harsher treatment, canceled citizenship ceremonies, and eroded legal protections.

Trump in Anchorage: A Humiliation. Trump in DC: A Phony Spectacle.

Breaking the News • 1205 implied HN points • 16 Aug 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. Trump's focus on imagery can leave him vulnerable, as seen when Putin took control during their meeting, showcasing a power imbalance.
  2. The way Trump allowed Putin to dominate the press event is seen as a significant diplomatic misstep.
  3. Trump's claims of safety measures in Washington DC are viewed as mere theater, lacking real substance behind the security actions.

Is Abigail Spanberger Seeking to Escalate or to De-Escalate Youngkin & Trump's Culture War?

Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality • 130 implied HN points • 17 Jan 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. University trustees should act as a buffer that protects academic independence, not as transmission belts for political agendas, because merit-based assessment and research integrity depend on it.
  2. The governor asked several board members to resign amid concerns that political pressure and donor involvement had steered the board’s actions and compromised its neutrality.
  3. A rushed firing and hurried appointment of university leadership raised legal and procedural questions and risked undermining proper governance and academic freedom.

Why Trump Is Winning His Fight with the Institutions

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 1340 implied HN points • 29 Jul 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. Trump is actively challenging many institutions, which is surprising to many. He puts pressure on leaders, like the Fed chair, to try to get his way without outright firing them.
  2. Despite his efforts, the Federal Reserve remains one of the few institutions that hasn't fully submitted to Trump's demands. He seems to be managing his relationship with the Fed chair cautiously to avoid market chaos.
  3. There seems to be a growing disconnect within progressive movements, suggesting that issues may stem from internal problems rather than just external pressures.

Legislator Gao Chin vs the Kitchen Sink

Taipology • 30 implied HN points • 13 Feb 26
🌍 World Politics Governance
  1. Prosecutors sometimes use a “kitchen sink” tactic — piling on many unrelated or old grey-area charges and staging dramatic raids and media leaks so the public assumes guilt.
  2. That playbook is often used against opposition politicians, turning prosecutions into political battles that are confusing because the charges are heterogeneous.
  3. Even if legally permissible, this approach erodes trust in the rule of law and condemns defendants to years of legal limbo and public damage regardless of the final outcome.

Measuring Mamdani's Mistake

JoeWrote • 83 implied HN points • 04 Feb 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. Zohran Mamdani’s early mayoralty shows that a left-wing leader can win broad support and focus on day-to-day issues like affordability, but governing a big city forces hard compromises with the political establishment.
  2. His initial responses to recent NYPD shootings—slow public comment and a statement that praised officers—alienated his progressive base, and he has since shifted tone and pushed for non-police crisis responses like a Department of Community Safety.
  3. Being held accountable by his supporters has helped him correct mistakes (as with his Israel remarks), showing that the socialist left is learning how to govern and should expect growing pains while refining its approach.

The Issue of Our Age. Plus. . .

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 380 implied HN points • 24 Nov 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. Immigration has become the defining issue of our age, reshaping American identity and driving heated political debates that push policy toward harsher enforcement.
  2. Trump’s new peace plan has put heavy pressure on Ukraine, with allies meeting in Geneva and Zelensky facing a tight deadline that could shift the war’s political dynamics.
  3. A string of developments — from a congresswoman’s resignation and an Israeli strike to shifting U.S. migration rhetoric and surprising local political stories — shows growing volatility at home and abroad and strains on institutions.

OpenAI #10: Reflections

Don't Worry About the Vase • 4032 implied HN points • 07 Jan 25
🕹 Technology Governance
  1. Sam Altman had a surprising experience of being fired by his board, which he describes as a failure of governance. He learned that having a diverse and trustworthy board is important for good decision-making.
  2. Altman acknowledges the high turnover at OpenAI due to rapid growth and mentions that some colleagues have left to start competing companies. He understands that as they scale, people's interests naturally change.
  3. He believes that the best way to make AI safe is to gradually release it into the world while learning from experience. However, he admits that there are serious risks involved, especially with the future of superintelligent AI.

New Nature

Breaking Smart • 105 implied HN points • 16 Jan 26
🕹 Technology Governance
  1. New Nature describes technologies that create durable, law-like regimes whose rules are nearly as persistent and inviolable as natural laws. This is mostly computation-based, so 'code is law' applies far beyond just blockchains.
  2. Some technologies can be capture-resistant or “can’t-be-evil,” like strong encryption, which shifts power toward weaker actors and helps prevent concentration of control, though physical or coordinated attacks still impose limits.
  3. Attempts to rely on wise human regulation tend to create attack surfaces that powerful actors can capture, so it’s preferable to build many widely distributed, capture-resistant systems rather than concentrate discretionary control.

The situation and the solution

Gray Mirror • 224 implied HN points • 27 Dec 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. Partial wins and moral victories aren’t enough — real political change needs sustained, concentrated "Rubicon" energy and a willingness to seize actual power rather than settle for symbolic success.
  2. The proposed solution is a centralized, disciplined "hard party": an app-driven organization that turns supporters into reliable, coordinated voters and builds a vetted officer corps to staff a new regime.
  3. After taking power the plan calls for rapid, decisive dismantling and replacement of old institutions — centralizing finance, services, identity systems, and operating from secure, loyal structures so the old regime can’t reconstitute itself.

Greg Abbott is the problem, has been part of the problem, to believe he is now fighting the FEDS, well for sure I will sell you land on MARS...you idiots...go back and follow what Abbott has done

Alexander News Network -Dr. Paul Elias Alexander's substack • 1474 implied HN points • 27 Jan 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. Greg Abbott is criticized for his actions and decisions.
  2. There are concerns about Abbott's approach to immigration.
  3. Dr. Paul Alexander's perspective suggests dissatisfaction with Abbott's leadership.

For 14 years, a crazy eco-terrorist group has attacked Berlin's energy infrastructure with impunity. Authorities have done nothing despite enormous damages and wide-scale disruption. What is going on?

eugyppius: a plague chronicle • 171 implied HN points • 06 Jan 26
🌍 World Politics Governance
  1. An eco-terrorist group called the Volcano Group has been attacking Berlin's power network for about 14 years, and their latest strike triggered one of the largest sustained blackouts in the country's history.
  2. The outage hit tens of thousands during an arctic cold snap, causing loss of heating, burst pipes, health risks for vulnerable people, and empty, unlit neighborhoods that invite looting.
  3. Authorities and security services have responded slowly and weakly — repairs took days, media attention was muted, and past suspects were quickly released, which has allowed the saboteurs to operate with apparent impunity.

Supermarket Tycoon Warns He’ll Close Down Shops if Mamdani Wins

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 1641 implied HN points • 18 Jun 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. Business leaders are concerned about the impact on the economy if Zohran Mamdani becomes mayor. They worry that losing wealthy individuals could harm the city's tax revenue.
  2. John Catsimatidis, a prominent businessman, indicated he might move his business out of New York if Mamdani wins. He feels that a change in leadership could make New York less favorable for business.
  3. Some business owners are seriously considering relocating to avoid the policies of a socialist mayor, suggesting that political decisions can greatly affect business operations and residents' livelihoods.

Politics is Full of Bad People Who Do Good Things

Richard Hanania's Newsletter • 4779 implied HN points • 11 Nov 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. Sometimes, people who support bad ideas can still create good outcomes. It's important to recognize that even if someone has questionable morals, their actions can still benefit society.
  2. In politics, it can be necessary to form alliances with those we don't agree with. Supporting a cause we believe in might require working with people whose values we find unappealing.
  3. Political strategies often need to adapt to reality. It's crucial to prioritize practical wins for individual freedoms, even if it means partnering with groups that don't fully align with our principles.

Social and Emotional Patronage

The J. Burden Show • 1557 implied HN points • 11 Jan 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. Patronage in politics involves an exchange of power and support, seen throughout history with politicians granting gifts for votes.
  2. Social and Emotional Patronage explains why individuals support a regime for emotional and social status rewards, even if they don't see direct material benefits.
  3. The loyalty to a regime can be maintained through social and emotional rewards, rather than purely monetary gains, showcasing the power of status and belonging.

American Strong Gods

The Upheaval • 3204 implied HN points • 13 Feb 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. Donald Trump represents a major shift away from the values of the Long Twentieth Century, promoting action and change instead of the procedural politics that dominated. He embodies a new spirit that prioritizes national interests and direct action.
  2. The idea of an 'open society' has led to a weakening of national identities and strong moral bonds, which many see as harmful. There's a growing desire to restore strong communal values and cohesive identities to counter this trend.
  3. Recent political movements are pushing back against the old liberal consensus, favoring a return to strong beliefs and identities. This reflects a broader dissatisfaction with the previous order and a quest for a more united and purposeful society.

At will? Whose will?

Can We Still Govern? • 254 implied HN points • 09 Dec 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. The Supreme Court seems poised to let presidents remove independent agency leaders, which will make agencies more political and reward loyalty over expertise.
  2. The federal government is already operating like an at‑will system right now, with partisan firings and stripped safeguards that weaken career staff, reduce state capacity, and invite corruption.
  3. State experiments with at‑will hiring offer weak, mixed evidence and don’t map well to the federal level; you can’t safely combine lots of political appointees with at‑will employment without risking politicized abuses, so reforms need careful evaluation.

The civil service is about to take over the government

Striking 13 • 2455 implied HN points • 13 Oct 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. The government is shifting towards being run by civil servants under Keir Starmer's leadership.
  2. Organizational competence is a critical factor for governmental success and the current UK government has been lacking in this aspect.
  3. The success of a civil-service-led government is crucial in restoring public trust in politics and combating conservative populism.

Rabbit Holes 🕳️ #176

Creative Destruction • 34 implied HN points • 18 Feb 26
🎭️ Culture Governance
  1. Our future is sliding into a ‘Homogenocene’ where profit-driven standardization and global platforms flatten cultural and biological diversity, making systems less innovative and resilient.
  2. AI is shifting the business model from an attention economy to an attachment economy, where chatbots exploit human bonding and loneliness at scale, creating new psychological harms.
  3. The real paperclip problem isn’t a rogue AI but our own race to scale AI: we’re pouring huge resources into marginal gains for winner-take-all rewards, consuming energy and social capital in the process.

Further Thoughts on: CROSSPOST: DAN DREZNER: Revenge of the Toddler-in-Chief

Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality • 84 implied HN points • 21 Jan 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. A president fixated on symbolic details—like map projections and perceived personal slights—is a symptom rather than the root problem.
  2. The deeper scandal is the failure of American guardrails and institutions meant to restrain dangerous or erratic executive behavior.
  3. This pattern points to broader risks of authoritarian or neofascist drift, showing systemic dangers that go beyond any one leader's tantrums.

February 19, 2026

Letters from an American • 28 implied HN points • 20 Feb 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. A senior British royal, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office over ties to Jeffrey Epstein and alleged sharing of confidential government documents while serving as a trade envoy.
  2. Former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol was convicted of leading an insurrection and sentenced to life in prison after attempting to impose martial law and block the legislature, with several co-conspirators also receiving long sentences.
  3. President Trump has seized and renamed the U.S. Institute of Peace to launch a self-styled "Board of Peace" that drew mixed international responses, is proposing a U.S.-run alternative to the WHO, and is pushing election-related legislation and White House changes while advancing his political messaging.

Is Trump a lame duck?

Silver Bulletin • 340 implied HN points • 18 Nov 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. Trump's approval ratings have been surprisingly stable, but recent events have caused some drops in popularity. It's not true that he can do anything and still keep his base satisfied.
  2. There have been significant political losses for Republicans recently, indicating that Trump's influence in the party might be weakening.
  3. Ongoing scandals, like the Epstein situation, could add pressure on Trump and affect public perception further.

Should Israel Pardon Netanyahu to Save Itself?

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 273 implied HN points • 01 Dec 25
🌍 World Politics Governance
  1. Ending Netanyahu’s corruption trial by pardoning him is presented as effectively admitting guilt and could mark the end of his political career.
  2. The trial has dragged on for more than five years and has deepened political divisions, with critics calling it overdue accountability and supporters calling it a witch hunt.
  3. Some advocate a pardon to let Israel "move on" and restore national unity, but that proposal is highly contentious amid recent political fights and the ongoing war.

Weekend Update #160: The US Becomes A Mouthpiece To Pass On Putin's Demands

Phillips’s Newsletter • 307 implied HN points • 23 Nov 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. The Trump administration is using a peace plan that seems to echo Russian demands. This raises serious doubts about the US being a neutral party in the Ukraine conflict.
  2. JD Vance is a significant supporter of this peace plan and holds an anti-Ukraine stance, which could have dangerous implications for Ukraine's future.
  3. Many figures who claimed to support Ukraine appear to back this plan, revealing a deeper agenda where Trump supporters might prioritize loyalty over genuine support for Ukraine.

We Live In A Nightmare

Caitlin’s Newsletter • 2989 implied HN points • 05 Jan 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. Many people don’t realize that we are already living in a dystopia where societal problems like capitalism and militarism are ignored. Understanding this is crucial for recognizing the real issues in our world.
  2. When you wake up to the truth, you begin to see the suffering caused by your government and the media. This awareness can be upsetting but is vital for genuine change.
  3. True happiness isn’t found in what society defines as success, like careers or consumerism. Instead, it lies in meaningful connections, nature, and honest experiences.

The AI Story Will Roll On in Trump’s Second Term

Big Technology • 3502 implied HN points • 08 Nov 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. AI technology is becoming increasingly important and cannot be overlooked, especially with key figures in tech having connections to the political landscape. This means the AI story will remain a big topic as politics unfold.
  2. Trump's new presidency will likely influence AI regulations and policies, particularly around open-source AI and tariffs. This could impact major tech companies and their strategies moving forward.
  3. The evolution of generative AI has just begun, and it's becoming crucial for businesses. However, many AI startups are still struggling financially, which could shape the future of the industry.

✨ Trump's new AI plan is necessary but insufficient

Faster, Please! • 1005 implied HN points • 23 Jul 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. The Trump administration's new AI plan focuses on making the U.S. a leader in artificial intelligence. It's more about competing globally than creating detailed rules for AI safety.
  2. The plan has three main goals: to accelerate innovation, build necessary infrastructure, and lead in international partnerships. This means investing in research and creating better facilities for AI development.
  3. However, the plan doesn't address risks related to superintelligent AI or consumer protections thoroughly. Critics worry it might overlook important safety measures.

India’s AI Wedding Buffet: Generous Portions, Political Economy Heartburn

Get Down and Shruti • 20 implied HN points • 16 Feb 26
🕹 Technology Governance
  1. The government favors an innovation-first, light-touch AI governance model that leans on existing laws, sector regulators, and techno-legal standards, and it has already moved to impose binding deepfake rules; but enforcement capacity and institutional scaffolding lag behind the rules, risking overreach or automated over-removal.
  2. Physical and political-economy constraints—notably soft soil at fab sites, slow and complex subsidy disbursements, and an insolvent, politically distorted electricity distribution system—are the real bottlenecks that will decide whether AI chips, data centers, and other infrastructure actually get built.
  3. India has world-class engineering talent and a strong startup ecosystem that can build niche, language- and document-focused models and do the messy systems integration work enterprises need, but unpredictable tax rulings, bureaucratic grant processes, and limited private capital certainty make it hard for companies to scale to global frontier models.

New York Democrats Go Socialist. Plus. . .

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 1168 implied HN points • 25 Jun 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. Zohran Mamdani, a socialist, won the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City. His proposals include big changes like government-run grocery stores and a freeze on rent.
  2. Mamdani has strong views on police and foreign policy, proposing to defund the NYPD and calling Israel 'apartheid'.
  3. His surprising victory against former governor Andrew Cuomo shows changes happening in New York's political landscape.

NYC Congestion Pricing: Early Days

Don't Worry About the Vase • 2732 implied HN points • 14 Jan 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. Congestion pricing in NYC means drivers now pay $9 to enter Manhattan below 60th Street. This fee is aimed at reducing traffic and will increase over time.
  2. Traffic in and around Manhattan has improved since congestion pricing started. Travel times through tunnels have dropped significantly, leading to less congestion overall.
  3. While some people support the changes, others feel negatively about them. There are concerns that fewer cars mean fewer people in some areas, impacting local businesses.