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The Ezra Klein ShowJun 6, 2023

The Book I Wish Every Policymaker Would Read

Summary, books mentioned, transcript quotes, and timestamps for The Book I Wish Every Policymaker Would Read on The Ezra Klein Show.

Books mentioned

Code for America Implementation, How Great Expectations in Washington are Dashed in Oakland, or Why It's Amazing that Federal Programs Work at All, This Being a Saga of the Economic Development Administration, as told to two sympathizers Radical Help+1 more

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The Book I Wish Every Policymaker Would Read mentions Code for America by Jen Palka, Implementation, How Great Expectations in Washington are Dashed in Oakland, or Why It's Amazing that Federal Programs Work at All, This Being a Saga of the Economic Development Administration, as told to two sympathizers, Radical Help by Hilary Cottom, and Recoding America by Jen Palka with timestamps, quotes, and episode context.

3 books from this episode

Code for America

Jen Palka

this is one of the best policy books I've read.

Implementation, How Great Expectations in Washington are Dashed in Oakland, or Why It's Amazing that Federal Programs Work at All, This Being a Saga of the Economic Development Administration, as told to two sympathizers

It's a book about a group of philanthropic observers who seek to build morals on a foundation of ruined hopes.

Radical Help

Hilary Cottom

I hope everybody who works in social services and healthcare would read it.

Episode summary

My pitch for this episode is simple: Jennifer Pahlka has written one of the best policy books I’ve ever read. Pahlka served as deputy chief technology officer in the Obama White House, and she’s the founder and a former executive director of Code for America, a nonprofit that works to enhance government digital services. Over the course of her career, Pahlka has become obsessed with an area of policy that is too often ignored by policymakers: implementation. She was part of the effort to rescue HealthCare.gov in 2013 and was tapped by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2020 to help fix California’s unemployment insurance system as it buckled under the weight of the Covid response. It has become a common refrain that the U.S. government is often terrible at delivering even basic services. But Pahlka’s new book — “Recoding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better” — puts forward a deeper theory of why government services are so awful, how policy implementation so often goes awry and what it would take to fix those systems so that government could better live up to its promises. It’s an argument that anyone who cares about government in the 21st century needs to take seriously. Book Recommendations: Implementation by Jeffrey L. Pressman and Aaron Wildavsky Radical Help by Hilary Cottam “Mandate for Leadership” (chapter 3), edited by Paul Dans and Steven Groves Listen to this podcast in New York Times Audio, our new iOS app for news subscribers. Download now at nytimes.com/audioapp Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at [email protected]. You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs. This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Emefa Agawu. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris, Mary Marge Locker and Kate Sinclair. Mixing by Jeff Geld. Our production team is Annie Galvin, Jeff Geld, Roge Karma and Kristin Lin. Original music by Isaac Jones. Audience strategy by Shannon Busta. The executive producer of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. And special thanks to Isaac Jones and Kristina Samulewski.

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Code for America

Jen Palka

The host mentions 'Code for America' to highlight Jen Palka's significant contributions to improving government servi…

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The host mentions this book to highlight the complexities and failures often encountered in implementing federal prog…

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Radical Help

Hilary Cottom

The host mentions 'Radical Help' as a critical examination of government systems, emphasizing the need to prioritize…

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Recoding America

Jen Palka

The host emphasizes the importance of 'Recoding America' by Jen Palka as a critical resource for understanding govern…

Card

culture eats policy

The host discusses how the culture within government agencies often undermines the policies intended to promote flexi…

Card

Mandate for Leadership, the Conservative Promise

The host mentions 'Mandate for Leadership, the Conservative Promise' to highlight its detailed proposals for civil se…

Card

the child separation policy at the border

The host discusses the systemic failures that exacerbated the impact of the child separation policy at the border. Th…

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What is The Book I Wish Every Policymaker Would Read about?

Summary, books mentioned, transcript quotes, and timestamps for The Book I Wish Every Policymaker Would Read on The Ezra Klein Show.

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What are the main takeaways from The Book I Wish Every Policymaker Would Read?

These are the strongest takeaways surfaced by the transcript, summary copy, and linked mentions for The Book I Wish Every Policymaker Would Read.

The conversation centers on child separation policy.
A second recurring theme is civil service reform.
Referenced books include Code for America by Jen Palka and Implementation, How Great Expectations in Washington are Dashed in Oakland, or Why It's Amazing that Federal Programs Work at All, This Being a Saga of the Economic Development Administration, as told to two sympathizers.
The strongest audience signal points to policymakers and government officials and Policymakers and public administration students.

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Which books are mentioned in The Book I Wish Every Policymaker Would Read?

Code for America by Jen Palka, Implementation, How Great Expectations in Washington are Dashed in Oakland, or Why It's Amazing that Federal Programs Work at All, This Being a Saga of the Economic Development Administration, as told to two sympathizers, and Radical Help by Hilary Cottom are the clearest linked books in this episode, each tied back to transcript timestamps and quote cards.

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Why are listeners searching for The Book I Wish Every Policymaker Would Read?

The Book I Wish Every Policymaker Would Read keeps attracting summary-style searches because this page combines episode context, transcript quotes, book references, and direct jump links back into the audio.

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Topic and sentiment signals

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Top triggers

child separation policy(1)civil service reform(1)culture and policy interaction(1)government digital services(1)government systems reform(1)policy implementation challenges(1)social safety net reform(1)

Mention sentiment

Highly Recommended(4)Critical Analysis(2)Deep Dive(1)

Audience signals

policymakers and government officialsPolicymakers and public administration studentsprofessionals in social services and healthcareIndividuals working in government, social services, and policy reform.Political analysts and policymakersPolicy makers and government contractors

Books Mentioned

The full list below is ranked by how useful each mention is to a listener: stronger recommendation language, clearer quote context, and better timestamp support rise first.

Code for America

Jen Palka

Best for policymakers and government officialsOften cited around government digital services

“Palka has written a book called, and I want to say it clearly, this is one of the best policy books I've read. It's a book I hope future governments and current governments will absorb.”

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Sentiment: Highly Recommended

Trigger: government digital services

For: policymakers and government officials

Key quote: “this is one of the best policy books I've read.”

The host mentions 'Code for America' to highlight Jen Palka's significant contributions to improving government services through technology. The book is praised for its insights into the challenges of policy implementation and the importance of focusing on delivery in governance.

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Implementation, How Great Expectations in Washington are Dashed in Oakland, or Why It's Amazing that Federal Programs Work at All, This Being a Saga of the Economic Development Administration, as told to two sympathizers cover

Best for Policymakers and public administration studentsOften cited around policy implementation challenges

“It's a book about a group of philanthropic observers who seek to build morals on a foundation of ruined hopes.”

View mention details

Sentiment: Highly Recommended

Trigger: policy implementation challenges

For: Policymakers and public administration students

Key quote: “It's a book about a group of philanthropic observers who seek to build morals on a foundation of ruined hopes.”

The host mentions this book to highlight the complexities and failures often encountered in implementing federal programs, using Oakland as a case study. It serves as a critical reflection on the disconnect between political expectations and actual outcomes in public policy.

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Radical Help

Hilary Cottom

Best for professionals in social services and healthcareOften cited around social safety net reform

“Looking at the social safety net, the workforce training system, the healthcare system, and pushing the concept of user needs over government needs further.”

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Sentiment: Highly Recommended

Trigger: social safety net reform

For: professionals in social services and healthcare

Key quote: “I hope everybody who works in social services and healthcare would read it.”

The host mentions 'Radical Help' as a critical examination of government systems, emphasizing the need to prioritize user needs over bureaucratic demands. The book is seen as inspiring and relevant to both the UK and US contexts regarding social services and healthcare.

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Recoding America

Jen Palka

Best for Individuals working in government, social services, and policy reform.Often cited around government systems reform

“A strong recommendation for people to read, covering important topics not discussed in detail during the episode.”

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Sentiment: Highly Recommended

Trigger: government systems reform

For: Individuals working in government, social services, and policy reform.

Key quote: “Jen Palka, your book is called Recoding America. I really, really recommend it strongly to people.”

The host emphasizes the importance of 'Recoding America' by Jen Palka as a critical resource for understanding government systems. They believe it offers valuable insights that were not fully covered in their discussion.

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culture eats policy

Best for Policymakers and government officialsOften cited around culture and policy interaction

“The speaker discusses how culture impacts the implementation of policy, emphasizing that despite policies allowing flexibility, the existing culture often leads to rigidity.”

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Sentiment: Deep Dive

Trigger: culture and policy interaction

For: Policymakers and government officials

Key quote: “I mean, it's a reasonable example, I think, of what I talk about in the book is culture eats policy, right?”

The host discusses how the culture within government agencies often undermines the policies intended to promote flexibility and efficiency. They reference the book 'Culture Eats Policy' to illustrate how ingrained cultural practices can lead to disastrous outcomes, such as the failures seen with healthcare.gov and family separation policies.

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Mandate for Leadership, the Conservative Promise

Best for Political analysts and policymakersOften cited around civil service reform

“Chapter three covers civil service rules and discusses proposals for reforming the civil service.”

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Sentiment: Critical Analysis

Trigger: civil service reform

For: Political analysts and policymakers

Key quote: “Chapter three of this new report called Mandate for Leadership, the Conservative Promise, is essentially the blueprint for what the Heritage Foundation thinks the next Republican president should do in all areas.”

The host mentions 'Mandate for Leadership, the Conservative Promise' to highlight its detailed proposals for civil service reform as envisioned by the Heritage Foundation. They express concern over the implications of these proposals, particularly the revival of Schedule F, and emphasize the need for counter proposals.

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the child separation policy at the border

Best for Policy makers and government contractorsOften cited around child separation policy

“The speaker refers to the child separation policy as a horrific example of how rigid systems can exacerbate policy failures.”

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Sentiment: Critical Analysis

Trigger: child separation policy

For: Policy makers and government contractors

Key quote: “But one thing that made it much worse was the rigidity of the system being used.”

The host discusses the systemic failures that exacerbated the impact of the child separation policy at the border. They highlight how the rigidity of existing systems made it nearly impossible to track separated families effectively.

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