# 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* by Hugh Heclo (1977)](https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/en/10.5771/9780815705192/a-government-of-strangers) - A foundational account of U.S. executive politics, mapping the structural tensions between political appointees and career officials. [*Beyond a Government of Strangers* by Robert Maranto (2005)](https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Government-Strangers-Executives-Cooperation/dp/073911090X) - Re-engages Heclo’s thesis, arguing for productive engagement between appointees and career execs rather than institutional antagonism. [*Dismantling Democratic States* by E. N. Suleiman (2003)](https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691122519/dismantling-democratic-states?srsltid=AfmBOoqR7_ewXcdxc2IDsZj04sHtCM_ikRPvvtK_4WG0Hiu_fW7IPo8S) - A prescient take on the erosion of state capacity, anticipating dynamics now central in hard-right governance debates, especially post-[[DOGE]].