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The "Deep State" and Its Discontents: A Series By American Purpose

Unbalanced Powers
The saga of the Government Accountability Office tells the story of the Trump administration’s campaign for a unitary executive.
 • Don Kettl
An Efficient Government Is A Limited Government
If we want an institution to be good at what it does, we must first define its role.
 • Emily Chamlee-Wright
Why American Governments Can’t Get Things Done
We used to build things. Today, the state is hampered by red tape and veto points.
 • Francis Fukuyama
Houston, We Have a Problem
It's not rocket science that kept America from returning to the moon. It's state capacity.
 • Francis Fukuyama
Deregulation for Me, Regulation for Thee
Trump hasn’t actually reduced the burden of the administrative state—he’s just shifted it onto all of us.
 • Matthew Wollin
What Wednesday Taught Us About Trump’s Attitude to the Federal Bureaucracy
As if we needed any more reminders.
 • Don Kettl
Armageddon in the Civil Service
Under cover of the government shutdown, Trump is stretching presidential powers even further by firing thousands of workers.
 • Don Kettl
From Retribution to Regulatory Regime
The Trump administration has learned from earlier mistakes in its education policies.
 • R. Shep Melnick
Can Trump Do That?
What firing members of the Fed means for America.
 • Don Kettl
What’s Happening to the “Deep State”?
Assaults on American state capacity are gaining steam.
 • Francis Fukuyama
The Right’s Revenge
How legal tools and strategies created by the left are now being deployed by Trump.
 • R. Shep Melnick
The Day Merit Died
The Trump administration wants a civil service based on politics, not skills.
 • Don Kettl
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