Recoding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better
by Jennifer Pahlka
View on GoodreadsCode for America founder Jennifer Pahlka's argument that the chronic failure of US government technology — healthcare.gov, unemployment systems, VA — is not a technical problem but an institutional one, rooted in policy-implementation disconnects.
Core ideas
- "The policy is the implementation" — federal agencies treat writing the rule and shipping the software as separate work, and the result is policies that can't actually be delivered to citizens regardless of intent.
- Procurement, contracting, and accountability structures all reward waterfall and process compliance over user outcomes; the people closest to the work have the least authority to fix what's broken.
- The fix isn't more procurement reform; it's bringing implementers into policy design, building in-house digital capability, and changing what counts as "doing your job."
Published2023
Pages336
ISBN9781250266774
ReadNov 2023
