The Next Government of the United States: Why Our Institutions Fail Us and How to Fix Them [Hardcover]

Donald F. Kettl (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2008

This book exposes the reality that our twentieth-century government is no match for twenty-first-century problems and proposes a solution.

In this timely and compelling book, Donald F. Kettl demonstrates how the process of governance has fallen out of sync with the problems the government is trying to solve. Pick almost any recent domestic concern—waging a war, protecting our food supply and borders, providing health-care coverage for an aging population or relief after a devastating hurricane—and the standard response is to outsource most of the core tasks to thousands of independent contractors. The government foots the bill, but this strategy provides neither leadership nor accountability. Without anyone in charge, who can formulate innovative solutions to the increasingly complex problems the government faces? Kettl has answers, explaining with precision and clarity how a twenty-first century government must function in order to provide real solutions to the policy problems that face the United States. 9 illustrations

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Kettl's cogent and unbiased analysis of the failure of government institutions posits that current challenges, whether in health care or disaster response, have outgrown the capacity of monolithic government agencies, even while the size of government continues to swell. Kettl (The Transformation of Governance) observes that "a bigger government with more shared responsibility has created a system in which no one is fully accountable for anything government does." He presents a balanced and unpartisan analysis of the Hurricane Katrina debacle, examining human error and generations of poor decision making as well as the intricacies of federalism and the organizational complexity of government institutions. According to the author, there exists a disconnect between how policy is executed, who is responsible and how institutions should share responsibility. Adapting institutions to current problems (and not the other way around) is a necessary change in mindset, Kettle argues, and crucial to greater government accountability, the overarching challenge for future leaders. (Dec.)
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From Booklist

Two events prompted Kettl, a public-policy academic and columnist for the civil servant’s must-read magazine Governing, to ponder how government malfunctions. The first was his mother-in-law’s Medicare experience; the second was the response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Though satisfied with his mother-in-law’s treatment, Kettl professes amazement that throughout the process she never once dealt with a federal employee, a situation that prompts the author to analyze how Washington funds programs without genuinely controlling them, either administratively or fiscally. A crisis such as Katrina simply magnifies the government’s lack of responsibility: the opprobrium heaped on the FEMA director, while satisfying a primitive need for human sacrifice, ignored the multiplicity of bureaucracies that resulted in nobody being in control. What to do, then? As problem-solvers, Kettl dismisses the president (too busy) and Congress (institutionally reactive, not innovative); instead, Kettl proposes the creation of a cadre of civil-service superheroes empowered to attack chronic or acute problems. Kettl’s outlook may appeal to readers interested in the managerial problems of government. --Gilbert Taylor

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1 edition (December 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393051129
• ISBN-13: 978-0393051124
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #675,941 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Insufficient, January 31, 2009

By 

J. Grattan "Ideas can move the world" (Lawrenceville, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Next Government of the United States: Why Our Institutions Fail Us and How to Fix Them (Hardcover)

This is a book that is more description and analysis of the US government in dealing with several disasters than it is a prescription. Catastrophes like 9-11 and Katrina were immense problems that involved many layers of government and the private sector with no clear coordination or accountability. The old model whereby one government agency tried to handle a vast, complex situation is hardly sufficient for large disasters, though for highly contained tasks such as administering Social Security, it works. Unfortunately, many seem to think that the government can simply straightforwardly, if not easily and quickly, solve any problem. Notice the lack of public commitment.

The author touches on the fact that Americans are ambivalent about how much power they wish to cede to government in handling problems. And then there is the nonsensical view that government is itself the problem and that the private sector is more competent. The American public seems to not fully comprehend the nature of democracy. We are the government. We can elect public-spirited individuals or we can elect anti-government ideologues. Of course, government fails when incompetents are appointed to key positions. It's silly to expect anything else. The cursory regulation of the financial community in 2008 says it all in terms of ideologues putting our economy near collapse.

It's not particularly profound to point out that many government functions, including overall management, are outsourced to the private or non-profit sectors. That fact will not change. The author calls for "rocket scientists" to solve our large problems - meaning highly intelligent individuals who are results-oriented and capable of coordinating with others. That is not a structural change in governmental institutions, as suggested by the title. It goes without saying that solving problems requires highly capable people with sufficient authority to get the job done. Not too profound.

The book is pretty much a disappointment. A minimalist public philosophy is pervasive in the US. Things always have to get bad, even way out of control, before problem-solving action is taken. Look at the problems that we have let get out of hand. Slavery tops the list. And then it took one hundred years to establish civil rights after the Civil War. The cycle of depressions went on for one hundred years before FDR tried to get a handle on it. And now the current financial crisis is upon us. We don't commit adequate resources to fight wildfires. We are unwilling to face global warming. These are not management and coordination issues. For whatever reason(s), we don't commit to solving problems impacting large swaths of people. We could, but we don't. That's what the author needs to be talking about.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the next government of united states, February 28, 2011

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kalina - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Next Government of the United States: Why Our Institutions Fail Us and How to Fix Them (Hardcover)

fast service great book and great price very happy with that purches and now i hope i pass the final

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How Government Really is!!!!!!!, April 5, 2009

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Thomas M. Magee - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Next Government of the United States: Why Our Institutions Fail Us and How to Fix Them (Hardcover)

Anyone who has even a passing interest in politics or the news should read this book. It really describes how things are in reality. Few other books seem to capture this new trend. All to often people's perception of government, what it does and should do is based off of High School Civics. However things have changed quite a bit over the past 20 years. The demands on government have grown but politicians has put restrictions on who those demands are met. Those restrictions took the form of staffing limits or instructions to contract out services in order to create a new plumb for supporters.

This book tells that story in great detail. It is a very readable story. The book is a real page turner. It is very readable and almost fun to go through. It really grabs your attention all throughout the book. He mixes stories with some discussion of theory to present a great book.

To meet the restrictions government has contracted out services to a mix of private sector or nonprofits to deliver basic services. This trend has even touched the Defense Department. That is what KBR is; a DOD program to accomplish the mission and meet those restrictions. Anyone who has seen the news over the past eight years has seen what KBR has been doing. They are accomplishing the mission but at high cost using civilians like soldiers. That is just one example of the point. The book has other stores about this different relationship.

This book really captures this trend for the reader in great detail. This is a story that usually only insiders know of. The basic media has missed that point. This trend has created a unique way to accomplish the mission. Work has to be done through a weird mix of Federal workers, contractors, state/local government and an occasional nonprofit. Each of those entities have their own agenda. That makes quick efficient accomplishment of the mission very difficult. The response to the hurricane Katrina shows how this network can be pushed beyond it's limits in dire circumstances.

The author does offer some great ideas on how to make this set up work. However he forgets how politics can mess things up. It was politics that created this weird monster. It will take politics to fix it. The scores of special interest groups makes his efficiency suggestion very difficult to implement.

If you have an interest in government you will love this book.