Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Maren Wiederhold
Categories
Politics & government

WHY NOTHING WORKS

Mark J. Dunkelman

Who Killed Progress — And How to Bring It Back

A provocative exploration about the architecture of power, the forces that stifle us from getting things done, and how we can restore confidence in democratically elected government.

America was once a country that could do big things building the world's greatest rail network, a vast electrical grid, interstate highways, abundant housing, Social Security, NASA, and more. But today, on issues that touch us each and every day, from housing to clean energy to high-speed rail, we feel stuck, unable to move the needle, ruled by a vetocracy that uses its power to stifle progress. Marc Dunkelman's provocative analysis of the architecture and use of power investigates how we moved from a can-do culture to one in which new red tape is added to a world already hampered by itand how we can find our way back. While Progressives blame the right, it's actually Progressive reforms that curtail anyone who wields power from bureaucrats and politicians to financiers, and corporate executives from getting things done. Guardrails placed around power brokers so that they don't interfere with our individual autonomy or oppress us with its coercive authority have worked all too well so well that government has been rendered incompetent, stifling the very tool needed to fight for justice and equality. As Americans confront massive crises like climate change, rising healthcare costs, crumbling infrastructure, and failing schools, Americans need quick and decisive action. In this book Dunkelman shows how progressives can rediscover their roots, end gridlock, and do the crucial work of serving the people. Marc J. Dunkelman is a fellow at Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. His work at Brown focuses on the architecture of American community and the progressive movement's evolving view of power. He is the author of The Vanishing Neighbor: The Transformation of American Community, of which former President Bill Clinton said, "Marc Dunkelman gets it. In The Vanishing Neighbor, he shows how the traditional web of relationships that makes up American life is undergoing fundamental change, why it matters, and what we need to do about it". During more than a dozen years working in Washington, Dunkelman served as a senior fellow at the Clinton Foundation, on the staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee, as legislative director and chief of staff to a member of the House of Representatives, and as the vice president for strategy and communications at the Democratic Leadership Council. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Atlantic, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Harvard Business Review, Chronicle of Higher Education, Daily Beast, and National Affairs, among other publications.

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Book Published 2025-02-18 by Public Affairs

Comments

Anyone who has been frustrated with the inefficiency of government must read this book. Dunkelman takes us on a sweeping investigation of how over the course of the twentieth century the public sector has been increasingly paralyzed from exercising authority, demonstrating convincingly that the Progressive Left has been as much at fault in undermining popular trust as the Conservative Right. This beautifully written book cuts to the central dilemma of our day: how to empower a strong central government that works, while still respecting the will of the people and inviting democratic participation. Dunkelman has confidence that we can do better--and he shows us how.

Friends of democracy typically hold two honorable impulses in tension: Power should be widely dispersed, and citizens should control the decisions affecting their lives; and democratic government should be able to accomplish big things and undertake big projects. Dunkelman's provocative, well-argued thesis is that errors made in the name of the first objective have prevented democracy from achieving the second. Why Nothing Works is a spirited and thoughtful intervention in the debate progressives need to have.

Marc Dunkelman has written a terrific book that both illustrates the extent of America's public sector dysfunction and explains how that dysfunction emerged. From housing to public transportation to energy infrastructure, Dunkelman explains what went wrong and what to do about it. This book is a crucial addition to the national discussion of how to make our country more productive and affordable.

America is living the truth of the old saying: any old jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one. Today, it feels like anyone can stop progress, but nobody's capable of starting it. I got into politics because when I was a kid, government delivered big things for my little corner of Louisiana--roads, and canals, and electricity. If you want to know why that happened back then, why it's not happening now, and how we can start doing and building big things again, then this is the book for you.

In this richly researched, compellingly argued, and sparklingly entertaining book, Marc Dunkelman shows how American liberalsonce builders and innovators par excellencelost touch with their own mission and forgot how to build. This is a book for anyone who cares about putting progress back into progressivism and restoring government's capacity to solve problems. In other words, it's urgent reading for everyone.

So much hinges on understanding what Dunkelman so clearly explains in this bookwhy we got stuck in a pattern of blocking everything from housing, to transportation, to green energy infrastructure and the price we're paying for it now. Getting unstuck must become the most urgent priority of the left if we value our democracy. Everyone who reads this engaging, revealing book will want to be part of this much-needed change.

Why America can't build is the central economic and political question of our time. In Why Nothing Works Marc Dunkelman asks progressives to reflect on how their own ideas have stymied the nation's ability to address the housing and climate crises and slashed national ambition in public works projects. A fantastic thinker, Dunkelman has written an essential book for anyone seeking to understand how Americans have lost faith in democratic institutions that over-promise and under-deliver.

Provocative reading for anyone with a stake in public works writ large. Read more...

Why can't the United States do big things anymore? Dunkelman tackles that question in this brilliant book, which takes a deep dive into why the well-meaning ideals of progressivism became unexpected obstacles to progress. Through a series of illuminating case studies, Dunkelman presents a thorough examination of what went wrong and offers ideas for a path forward.

Politicians debate policy but ignore that America's governing framework is often "authentically incompetent." With vivid stories, laced with historical feuds and fears, Marc Dunkelman in Why Nothing Works shows how democracy descended into a state of rigor mortis. The cure is clear but bold--to largely abandon the procedural framework and put humans in charge again.

Why Nothing Works is the best book to date on the biggest political issue that nobody is talking about, but everyone feelsa palpable and basically accurate sense that American society has lost the capacity to plan and execute large projects in the physical world. How can it be that the richest country on earth and the home to so many globe-straddling companies is saddled with second-rate infrastructure and endemic housing shortages?

For progressive politics to work, the public must have an affirmative view of government and its effectiveness. This book is essential reading to appreciate how sometimes we can be our own worst enemy.

A powerfully argued book that ably clarifies and takes on America's deep cultural aversion to power.