Recoding America
Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better
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Narrated by:
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Jennifer Pahlka
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Written by:
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Jennifer Pahlka
About this listen
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.
Published by Metropolitan Books, an imprint of Henry Holt and Company
©2023 Jennifer Pahlka (P)2023 Audible, Inc.You may also enjoy...
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What listeners say about Recoding America
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- Emmanuelle C.
- 2023-09-23
One of my new all time favs
Such a good book. Good insight into government and the wider systemic problem. Easy for anyone to pick up, dive into and understand.
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- Anthony Sheehan
- 2023-06-26
A must read for all engaged citizens!
The author brings credibility and shares tons of examples and practical tips to make public services more modern, user-centred and performant. Great book!
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- Amazon Customer
- 2023-06-28
Wow
As a government technologist who has spent 20 years shifting government delivery, I absolutely love this book and was impressed by its delivery. I totally agree with Ezra Kleins assertion about policymakers reading this book.
I was surprised, pleasantly so, by not just all the discussion of digital delivery but of the candid and insightful discussion about the role of government and the systemic and global influences that create the conditions for success or not success.
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- Irene
- 2023-11-11
A must read
Anyone who is interested in contributing to the betterment of government services delivery should read this. Best one!
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