Why Some Agencies Capture Their Regulators and Others Don't
The structural conditions that determine whether regulators serve the public or the industries they oversee
How Federal Grants Shape State and Local Government Behavior
Federal money comes with strings that quietly reshape how state and local governments think, plan, and deliver services.
The Strategic Logic of Public Comment Periods
Why most public comments disappear while some reshape federal rules entirely
Why Government IT Projects Fail at Alarming Rates
Procurement rules designed for battleships systematically undermine software development
Why Administrative Courts Work Differently Than Regular Courts
Why modern governance created a parallel judicial universe for regulatory disputes
Why Some Regulations Work and Others Create Chaos
The structural features that separate functional rules from regulatory disasters
How Career Civil Servants Actually Influence Policy
The permanent government shapes what's possible through expertise, institutional memory, and operational control—understanding this dynamic reveals how policy actually happens.
The Organizational Politics of Agency Reorganization
Why reshuffling government agencies rarely delivers promised efficiencies and how to tell when structural change might actually help
How Public Sector Unions Shape Agency Operations
Understanding how union contracts, workforce culture, and labor-management dynamics actually determine what government agencies can accomplish
How Budget Cycles Shape Everything Government Does
Understanding the fiscal year's hidden influence reveals why agencies act as they do—and how to work effectively within budget-driven constraints.
Why Interagency Coordination Fails So Predictably
Structural forces make interagency coordination fail by default—understanding them reveals what might actually work.
The Hidden Logic Behind Government Paperwork Requirements
Understanding when administrative procedures protect citizens and when they genuinely waste everyone's time transforms frustration into informed advocacy.
Why Regulatory Agencies Resist Change Even When Reform Seems Obvious
The hidden logic behind why government agencies deflect even sensible reforms—and what actually works to change them
The Real Reasons Government Contracts Take So Long
Inside the web of competing values and oversight mechanisms that shape how government buys everything from pencils to fighter jets.