Recoding America - bookwyrm.cincodenada.com

Hardcover, 336 pages

English language

Published June 13, 2023 by Holt & Company, Henry.

ISBN:: 9781250266774
Goodreads:: 61796680

(1 review)

“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 …

“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.

2 editions

Vashbear@bookwyrm.social reviewed Recoding America by Jennifer Pahlka

Trust in Government at Risk

5 stars

While the book is specifically about Government IT iniatives, it is more broadly about how large organizations made of constituent with different incentives are badly hampered from serving their users.

Politicians make policies to further their agenda, and then leave it to implementers to sort through all the ambiguity, inconsistencies and deliver something useful. Failure is almost assured at the outset. Much of the description rang true to me as a software developer in the private sector -- I experience the same sort of issues but perhaps at a smaller scale.

But the most interesting thing to me was Pahlka's argument that the impact of failed process is much worse than a bad user experience, a budget overrun, or a delay ... it is undermining trust in Government.

If you work in software/IT you will greatly enjoy this book. And if not, you will still find the sociology and a …

While the book is specifically about Government IT iniatives, it is more broadly about how large organizations made of constituent with different incentives are badly hampered from serving their users.

Politicians make policies to further their agenda, and then leave it to implementers to sort through all the ambiguity, inconsistencies and deliver something useful. Failure is almost assured at the outset. Much of the description rang true to me as a software developer in the private sector -- I experience the same sort of issues but perhaps at a smaller scale.

But the most interesting thing to me was Pahlka's argument that the impact of failed process is much worse than a bad user experience, a budget overrun, or a delay ... it is undermining trust in Government.

If you work in software/IT you will greatly enjoy this book. And if not, you will still find the sociology and a look at how the sausage gets made enlightening.

Subjects

Non fiction
Technology
Politics
Government
Business
History