Our government faces several fundamental dysfunctions. These include a lack of prioritization and refusal to make trade-offs, resulting in programs that are too unwieldy to be effective (Everything Bagelism); unchecked anxiety about legitimacy and accountability, leading to “procedural inflation” that in turn heightens anxiety (Procedure Fetish); and a culture of risk aversion that often undermines policy intent (Culture Eats Policy). We must do better.
To strengthen state capacity, we must:
Achieving these goals requires personnel, oversight, and funding reforms across both the legislative and executive branches.
To effectively address today’s critical challenges–from national security and public safety to climate action and support to vulnerable populations–we need a government capable of delivering results. Rebuilding our government’s capacity for the modern era is essential for American prosperity.
Suspicion of state power is embedded in our Constitution and our political culture; accordingly, work to produce a stronger, more capable state will never be the path of least resistance. But it’s the only path that leads where we need to go, and there is growing recognition across the political spectrum that this is the direction we need to take.