How to Fix the Government
"When Americans no longer see government websites as laughingstocks—when applications ask sensible questions, when submitting your taxes online is easy, when signing up for health insurance doesn’t require a Ph.D.—maybe the politics will follow."
What It’s About
Reviewing Jennifer Pahlka’s Recoding America, Bagley emphasizes how outdated technology, bureaucratic rigidity, and compliance-driven culture drive the work of government. To “fix” government, he argues, prioritize the usability of its services and streamlining its work instead.
Upshot
Bagley argues that:
- Complexity Is Costly: Excessive and unnecessarily complex implementation rules lead directly to expensive mistakes, fraud, and preventable failures in critical services like unemployment programs
- Usability Drives Trust: When government prioritizes user-friendly digital interfaces and practical service design, it improves effectiveness and helps restore public confidence in democratic institutions
- Implementation Beats Ideology: Practical improvements—such as simplifying application processes—can bypass partisan deadlock
Did You Know? Michigan’s unemployment system mistakenly paid out $1.5 billion in fraudulent claims during the pandemic because an automated fraud detection system only ran at night, while payments were processed during the day.
Read the Full Piece
Buy the Book: Recoding America
Why It Matters
Implementation matters to producing desired outcomes for lawmaking of any persuasion. It also
Who Wrote It
Nicholas Bagley is a law professor at the University of Michigan, where he specializes in administrative and health law.
