Ungoverning

The Attack on the Administrative State and the Politics of Chaos

Nancy L. Rosenblum, Russell Muirhead

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English

Princeton University Press
01 February 2025

Social & political philosophy; Political science & theory; Political structures: democracy; Central government

In this unsettling book, Russell Muirhead and Nancy Rosenblum trace how ungoverning

the deliberate effort to dismantle the capacity of government to do its work

has become a malignant part of politics.

Democracy depends on a government that can govern, and that requires what's called administration. The administrative state is made up of the vast array of departments and agencies that conduct the essential business of government, from national defense and disaster response to implementing and enforcing public policies of every kind. Ungoverning chronicles the reactionary movement that demands dismantling the administrative state. The demand is not for goals that can be met with policies or programs. When this demand is frustrated, as it must be, the result is an invitation to violence.

Muirhead and Rosenblum unpack the idea of ungoverning through many examples of the politics of destruction. They show how ungoverning disables capacities that took generations to build

including the administration of free and fair elections. They detail the challenges faced by officials who are entrusted with running the government and who now face threats and intimidation from those who would rather bring it crashing down

and replace the regular processes of governing with chaotic personal rule.

The unfamiliar phenomenon of ungoverning threatens us all regardless of partisanship or ideological leaning. Ungoverning will not be limited to Donald Trump's moment on the political stage. To resist this threat requires that we first recognise what ungoverning is and what it portends.

By: Nancy L. Rosenblum, Russell Muirhead
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 140mm,
ISBN: 9780691250526
ISBN 10: 0691250529
Pages: 280
Publication Date: 01 February 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , General/trade , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Russell Muirhead is the Robert Clements Professor of Democracy and Politics at Dartmouth College. Nancy L. Rosenblum is the Senator Joseph Clark Professor of Ethics in Politics and Government Emerita at Harvard University. They are the authors of A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy (Princeton).

Reviews for Ungoverning: The Attack on the Administrative State and the Politics of Chaos

""An illuminating — and alarming — book. . . . Muirhead and Rosenblum finished ‘Ungoverning’ before the 2024 election, but Trump’s ludicrous nominations — one already crashed in flames — serve as a sort of publicity campaign for the book’s thesis.""---Ron Charles, Washington Post ""Spirited. . . . [Muirhead and Rosenblum] note that Trump’s grousing about sinister plots is aided by the administrative state’s ‘illegibility.’ The intricacies of policy implementation make the nuts and bolts of governing opaque. This informational vacuum is fertile ground for Trumpism.""---Jennifer Szalai, New York Times ""Readable and insightful, and it should be required reading for everyone from undergrads to Supreme Court justices. . . . Essential."" * Choice *