The idea that authoritarians are more effective is incredibly corrosive and, in fact, not true! But everyone loves the idea of the man on the horse carrying forward History

Again (and realizing this should really be a blog) I'm sympathetic and consider myself part of Dunkleman's project of making democratic governments responsive and functional. But you can't hand wave the accountability stuff. The argument can't be a "unitary exec theory - but for good!"

One of the core debates in public administration theory was about Woodrow Wilson's claim that you can borrow the practices of non-democratic states (or private sector) to improve democratic govts. The claim holds for narrow tools, but fails when you talk about the fundamental structures of power.

The response to my objections from the Dunkelman worldview is that I'm stuck with the outdated idea that more rules & procedures equate accountability. Thats not the case. Its a more fundamental concern consistent with the founders aversion of centralized power, and watching democratic backsliding.

I'm sympathetic to the idea that progressives need to rethink procedural barriers to getting things done, and that this a crucial moment for American government. But we are witnessing a shift to authoritarianism right now. American needs not just a theory of power but also theory of accountability.

Lesson 6: If you have a theory of the Supreme Court that does not include political ideology, its going to be wrong. During the Biden administration it was all major questions because they did not like his policies, and during Trump it is mostly unitary executive, because they do.

Lesson 4: If you are peddling the "trust in govt" has dropped because of proceduralism, you either don't understand the study of trust or don't care. It has dropped in all countries and all institutions over the same time period. It is mostly driven by perception of politics not govt services.

One more: this means that over a long period of time, reporters/editors at the Post were able to create mutual trust with sources in the Pentagon, during a time of maximum hostility to the press. The Post knows the sources are trustworthy. The sources know the Post will protect them.