Policymaking For Realists
My next book is under contract with the University of Chicago Press. A full draft manuscript is complete. Work on this project is supported by my 2024–2025 sabbatical as an Andrew Carnegie Fellow.
About the Book:
It is easy to look at American politics and see only dysfunction: gridlock in Congress, polarization in the electorate, and a media ecosystem fueled by outrage. But look closer, away from the cameras, and the machinery of government is still running. Major legislation still passes. And diverse coalitions still come together to solve hard problems.
Policymaking for Realists is a manual for how that happens. It is a guide for the legislators, staff, advocates, and citizens who are tired of waiting for a political revolution and want to start getting things done in the system we have.
The Argument
The book challenges the idea that we need to wait for a political revolution or a unified partisan mandate to make progress. Instead, I argue that durability is the true measure of success. In a system defined by close elections and shared power, the only policies that last are those built on broad coalitions, incremental designs, and successful implementation. Drawing on history, political science, and case studies ranging from the clean energy transition to the Electoral Count Reform Act, the book outlines a playbook for the "Realist":
Expect to Muddle Through: Why sweeping "moonshots" often fail, while incremental layers (like tax credits and state standards) compound into transformative change.
The "Secret Congress": How low-salience venues and bipartisan working groups continue to pass consequential laws while the public focuses on performative conflict.
Design for Defense: How to write policies that create their own defenders—beneficiaries, businesses, and local governments—who will fight to keep them when political winds shift.
From Diagnosis to Prescription
This project is not just descriptive and analytical, but prescriptive. It is informed by my experiences in state government here in Michigan. Through my work at IPPSR, I’ve seen firsthand that while the national conversation is dominated by toxicity, the actual work of governance is often led by reasonable people finding quiet ways to cooperate. This book is for them.