# Government Reform Reading List This note gathers books about government and public sector reform that I found interesting. Some I’ve skimmed, others I haven’t read yet. This will be a space to track titles, authors, and short impressions over time. --- ## Entries - [*A Government of Strangers*)](https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/en/10.5771/9780815705192/a-government-of-strangers) by Hugh Heclo (1977) - A foundational account of U.S. executive politics, mapping the structural tensions between political appointees and career officials. - [*Beyond a Government of Strangers*](https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Government-Strangers-Executives-Cooperation/dp/073911090X) by Robert Maranto (2005) - Re-engages Heclo’s thesis, arguing for productive engagement between appointees and career execs rather than institutional antagonism. - [*Dismantling Democratic States*](https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691122519/dismantling-democratic-states?srsltid=AfmBOoqR7_ewXcdxc2IDsZj04sHtCM_ikRPvvtK_4WG0Hiu_fW7IPo8S) by E. N. Suleiman (2003) - A prescient take on the erosion of state capacity, anticipating dynamics now central in hard-right governance debates, especially post-[[Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)]]. - [_The Blunders of Our Governments_](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blunders-Our-Governments-Anthony-King/dp/1780742665) by Anthony King and Ivor Crewe (2014) - This work examines large-scale policy failures in the UK. The authors identify "cultural" and "structural" flaws, such as the deficit of deliberation in the Cabinet and the "asymmetry of expertise" between civil servants and the political class. - [_Failures of State](https://www.amazon.com/Failures-State-Inside-Britains-Coronavirus/dp/0008430527) by Jonathan Calvert and George Arbuthnott (2021) - A reconstruction of the UK’s COVID-19 pandemic response. It provides an account of how departmental silos and centralized procurement struggled to adapt to crisis, illustrating the gap between policy intent and operational capacity. - [_Failed State: Why Nothing Works and How We Fix It_](https://www.amazon.com/Failed-State-Sam-Freedman/dp/1035026597) by [[Sam Freedman]] (2024) - Argues that extreme centralization in the Treasury and N. 10 has stripped local government of agency while overwhelming the center with many micro-decisions. It explores how the incentive structures within the civil service prioritize "briefing" over "delivery". - _[A New Blueprint for Government: Reshaping Power, the PMO, and the Public Service](https://uofrpress.ca/Books/A/A-New-Blueprint-for-Government)_ by Kevin G. Lynch & James R. Mitchell (2024) - The authors examine the “politicization of the center” in Canada, describing a shift of influence from the civil service to political staff. They argue that this centralization contributes to delivery problems and propose a roadmap to re-establish a clearer boundary between political decision-making and administrative expertise. - [*Making Bureaucracy Work: Norms, Education and Public Service Delivery in Rural India*](https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009258050) by [[Akshay Mangla]] (2022) - Investigates how bureaucratic norms influence the delivery of primary education in India, contrasting "legalistic" and "deliberative" bureaucratic styles and their impact on implementation. _[States against Nations: Meritocracy, Patronage, and the Challenges of Bureaucratic Selection](https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009589208)_ by [[Nicholas Kuipers]] (2025) - Examines the tension between state-building (efficiency) and nation-building (representation) through the lens of civil service recruitment. Using Indonesia and colonial Southeast Asia as primary cases, Kuipers explores how meritocratic exams can inadvertently exacerbate ethnic or regional inequalities, while patronage (though often decried as corrupt) has historically been used to manage diverse populations and ensure political stability.