Best of "Can We Still Govern?" 2025: Personal Favorites

Hoping 2026 will be better!

This was a really weird year for all us, but spare a thought for those of us who study governance. In 2025, I wrote a lot about the erosion of US democracy and state capacity. In a previous post I highlighted my most-read pieces from the year.

Here are my personal favorites from 2025. Some reflect a personal connection I had with the article, and some were about what I saw as the most profound changes in our government. Enjoy!

I love trains! And Switzerland! And hiking in the Alps! This trip had it all. Everyone should do this it once in their lives.

At the end of 2024, I concluded my presidency of the Association of Public Policy and Management. That included giving a presidential address at the annual meeting. This took place after the election, but before Trump took office. This post summarized the speech, which outlined the looming threat of Trumpism.

At the time, the modal audience response was “wow, that was really depressing.” When I returned to the conference in November 2025, the response was “if anything, you undersold how bad things would be.” While I did not predict everything that has come to pass the idea of a Presidency centered around personal loyalty remains a pretty useful Rosetta Stone for understanding our current moment.

This piece detailed what I see as the troubling political economy for right-wing students who see campus trolling and even harassment as a means to make it the MAGAverse. This incentive structure has become even stronger since the murder of Charlie Kirk, as others seek to take his place.

The piece critiqued an article by Jeremy Peters, a New York Times reporter. I criticize the Times a lot, even though I am both a loyal subscriber and very occasional author there, and so much of this criticism comes from a desire for it to be the best version of what it can be, even as I acknowledge that best version will also reflect my own preferences.

Anyway, Peters emailed me after he read the article…and could not have been more gracious. We disagreed on some things, but he demonstrated a genuine interest in trying to understand my perspective. Given that he and others in the media receive a lot of negative feedback, I was genuinely impressed. (Please be aware that if you ever criticize my writing, I will most likely tell you to go to hell).

My academic mentor, Patrica Ingraham, died this past year. She was a wonderful person who changed my life, and opened up a world of opportunities that as a first generation college grad I simply did not understand. Her passing made me ponder about what mentorship means.

Authoritarians are bound to refashion the legal system and military/paramilitary forces to demand loyalty. Trump has done so most visibly by making extraordinary new investments into immigration enforcement, which have also subsumed large chunks of existing military and law enforcement resources. As a result, America is a place today where the President routinely sends heavily armed and masked agents into the cities run by his political opponents, contrary to the wishes of the citizens who live there. This will not stop soon and will not end well.

Trump allowed the richest man in the world to condemn potentially millions of people to death. Its that simple. The elimination of USAID is the greatest moral atrocity of the Trump administration to date. It was done without any act of Congress, and driven by conspiracy nuts. I just cannot get over how it happened, and most people just moved on. In a just world, this triggering of such extraordinary human suffering would follow all involved — Musk, DOGErs, Russ Vought, Marco Rubio and Trump — like a trail of blood for the rest of their days.

Finally, this story was written by Professor Chloe East, one of many wonderful guest writers who contributed this year. She studies access to SNAP, and did a deep dive explanation of how new work requirements will work (spoiler: they will be a big deal). Its a terrific social science explainer, and this piece holds a special piece in my heart because John Oliver highlighted it in Last Week Tonight.

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Thanks for reading. Thanks also to everyone who joined the GiveDirectly campaign. As promised, I made a gift equivalent to all new paid subscriptions to Can We Still Govern? in December, totaling $670. If interested you can still donate here.

Happy new year! Here is hoping that 2026 brings us more reason for cheer. Take care!