Ungoverning - by Russell Muirhead & Nancy L Rosenblum

Book Synopsis

How a deliberate dismantling of political institutions undermines the essential work of government

In this unsettling book, Russell Muirhead and Nancy Rosenblum trace how ungoverning--the deliberate effort to dismantle the capacity of government to do its work--has become a malignant part of politics. Democracy depends on a government that can govern, and that requires what's called administration. The administrative state is made up of the vast array of departments and agencies that conduct the essential business of government, from national defense and disaster response to implementing and enforcing public policies of every kind. Ungoverning chronicles the reactionary movement that demands dismantling the administrative state. The demand is not for goals that can be met with policies or programs. When this demand is frustrated, as it must be, the result is an invitation to violence.

Muirhead and Rosenblum unpack the idea of ungoverning through many examples of the politics of destruction. They show how ungoverning disables capacities that took generations to build--including the administration of free and fair elections. They detail the challenges faced by officials who are entrusted with running the government and who now face threats and intimidation from those who would rather bring it crashing down--and replace the regular processes of governing with chaotic personal rule.

The unfamiliar phenomenon of ungoverning threatens us all regardless of partisanship or ideological leaning. Ungoverning will not be limited to Donald Trump's moment on the political stage. To resist this threat requires that we first recognize what ungoverning is and what it portends.

Review Quotes

"An illuminating--and alarming--book. . . . Muirhead and Rosenblum finished Ungoverning before the 2024 election, but Trump's ludicrous nominations--one already crashed in flames--serve as a sort of publicity campaign for the book's thesis."---Ron Charles, Washington Post

"Readable and insightful, and it should be required reading for everyone from undergrads to Supreme Court justices. . . . Essential."-- "Choice"

"Spirited. . . . [Muirhead and Rosenblum] note that Trump's grousing about sinister plots is aided by the administrative state's 'illegibility.' The intricacies of policy implementation make the nuts and bolts of governing opaque. This informational vacuum is fertile ground for Trumpism."---Jennifer Szalai, New York Times

About the Author

Russell Muirhead is the Robert Clements Professor of Democracy and Politics at Dartmouth College. Nancy L. Rosenblum is the Senator Joseph Clark Professor of Ethics in Politics and Government Emerita at Harvard University. They are the authors of A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy (Princeton).