Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A bold call for reimagining how US governments at all levels create and use digital technology, from the founder of Code for America
As our society has hurtled into the digital age, American government has limped into it. On public websites and in internal systems alike, the quality of most government software is abysmal. The result is a growing gap between the intentions of government policy and its effects in the real world. We see this gap in our costly health care, our sluggish updates to critical infrastructure, our haphazard criminal justice system--and we saw it all the more clearly when the pandemic hit, as legislated benefits of all sorts failed to reach the people in need. This gap affects everyone, and is a big part of why we trust government less and less.
It doesn't have to be that way. As Jen Pahlka vividly shows, the problem is not a lack of money, desire, or ability: government tech workers have plenty of all of those. But they are crucially hamstrung by a rigid hierarchical culture in which lawmakers dictate policy from on high and disdain all the details of implementation. What's needed is an approach that puts users' needs first, and allows coders and designers to relay insights back up the political chain of command. Modernizing decades-old tech is not enough: government won't succeed until it modernizes its decades-old ways of thinking.
Synopsis
A bold call to reexamine how our government operates, and sometimes fails to, from President Obama's deputy chief technology officer and the founder of Code for America
Just when we most need our government to work--to help the vulnerable through a pandemic, to prepare our workforce for a disruptive future, to defend ourselves against global threats--it is faltering. Government at all levels has limped into the digital age, offering online services that can feel even more cumbersome than the paperwork that preceded them and widening the gap between the policy outcomes we intend and what we get.
But it's not more money or more tech we need. Government is hamstrung by a rigid, Industrial-era culture, in which elites dictate policy from on high, disconnected from and too often disdainful of the details of implementation. Lofty goals morph unrecognizably as they cascade through a complex hierarchy. But there is an approach taking hold that keeps pace with today's world and reclaims government for the people it is supposed to serve. Jennifer Pahlka shows why we must stop trying to move the government we have today onto new technology and instead consider what it would mean to truly recode American government.
Synopsis
"The book I wish every policymaker would read."
--Ezra Klein, The New York Times
A bold call to reexamine how our government operates--and sometimes fails to--from President Obama's former deputy chief technology officer and the founder of Code for America
Just when we most need our government to work--to decarbonize our infrastructure and economy, to help the vulnerable through a pandemic, to defend ourselves against global threats--it is faltering. Government at all levels has limped into the digital age, offering online services that can feel even more cumbersome than the paperwork that preceded them and widening the gap between the policy outcomes we intend and what we get.
But it's not more money or more tech we need. Government is hamstrung by a rigid, industrial-era culture, in which elites dictate policy from on high, disconnected from and too often disdainful of the details of implementation. Lofty goals morph unrecognizably as they cascade through a complex hierarchy. But there is an approach taking hold that keeps pace with today's world and reclaims government for the people it is supposed to serve. Jennifer Pahlka shows why we must stop trying to move the government we have today onto new technology and instead consider what it would mean to truly recode American government.
Synopsis
Learn more about Jennifer Pahlka's work at recodingamerica.us.
"The book I wish every policymaker would read."
--Ezra Klein, The New York Times
A bold call to reexamine how our government operates--and sometimes fails to--from President Obama's former deputy chief technology officer and the founder of Code for America
Just when we most need our government to work--to decarbonize our infrastructure and economy, to help the vulnerable through a pandemic, to defend ourselves against global threats--it is faltering. Government at all levels has limped into the digital age, offering online services that can feel even more cumbersome than the paperwork that preceded them and widening the gap between the policy outcomes we intend and what we get.
But it's not more money or more tech we need. Government is hamstrung by a rigid, industrial-era culture, in which elites dictate policy from on high, disconnected from and too often disdainful of the details of implementation. Lofty goals morph unrecognizably as they cascade through a complex hierarchy. But there is an approach taking hold that keeps pace with today's world and reclaims government for the people it is supposed to serve. Jennifer Pahlka shows why we must stop trying to move the government we have today onto new technology and instead consider what it would mean to truly recode American government.
Synopsis
Named one of NPR's Best Books of 2023
Named one of Ezra Klein's "Books That Explain Where We Are in 2023," The New York Times
Learn more about Jennifer Pahlka's work at recodingamerica.us.
"The book I wish every policymaker would read."
--Ezra Klein, The New York Times
A bold call to reexamine how our government operates--and sometimes fails to--from President Obama's former deputy chief technology officer and the founder of Code for America
Just when we most need our government to work--to decarbonize our infrastructure and economy, to help the vulnerable through a pandemic, to defend ourselves against global threats--it is faltering. Government at all levels has limped into the digital age, offering online services that can feel even more cumbersome than the paperwork that preceded them and widening the gap between the policy outcomes we intend and what we get.
But it's not more money or more tech we need. Government is hamstrung by a rigid, industrial-era culture, in which elites dictate policy from on high, disconnected from and too often disdainful of the details of implementation. Lofty goals morph unrecognizably as they cascade through a complex hierarchy. But there is an approach taking hold that keeps pace with today's world and reclaims government for the people it is supposed to serve. Jennifer Pahlka shows why we must stop trying to move the government we have today onto new technology and instead consider what it would mean to truly recode American government.