Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow – No trackers, no ads. Black type, white background. Privacy policy: we don't collect or retain any data at all ever period.Feb 24Pluralistic: Socialist excellence in New York City (24 Feb 2026)
https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://pluralistic.net/2026/02/24/mamdani-thought/
"We are ardent believers in the power of government to improve people’s lives, and appreciate the frustration with unnecessary delays. In some cases, especially exclusionary zoning and other land use rules in wealthy suburbs, the current legal restrictions are in fact excessive. However, the proper answer to government dysfunction and the authoritarian threat at home and abroad is largely the same today as it was during the New Deal: Rather than railroad the public with top-down directives or megaprojects imposed by Washington and state capitols, we must renew our national commitment to democracy and public participation with ambitious acts of bold economic governance.
The Trump Administration’s ability to move with lightning speed to impose unwanted infrastructure like Alligator Alcatraz on unwilling host communities, militarize cities with masked police and troops, and increase surveillance of Americans makes clear the urgency of balancing the state’s capacity to act decisively with the need for democratic legitimacy. “State capacity” is not inherently good: The what and how of state action matter.
Moreover, in the medium and long term, the tradeoff between state capacity and democratic participation disappears—and even reverses. Public input into government decisions, including in environmental review procedures, not only restrains the worst tendencies of unaccountable state power but also enhances the capacity of the state itself, by providing valuable feedback to state technocrats about what is working and what isn’t. While turning off these feedback channels may generate a sugar high of quick results, doing so, as state capacity liberals propose, dooms effective governance further down the road. Top-down technocracy is brittle, and availing ourselves of shortcuts around the public is ultimately self-defeating."
https://democracyjournal.org/magazine/79/rethinking-state-capacity/
#StateCapacity #Bureaucracy #Abundance #DemocraticParticipation #ParticipatoryDemocracy #Democracy
📉 State capacity, public goods, inequality, violence, all in Rio: last May Lady Gaga did a gig in Copacabana beach, for approximately two million people. Apart from the artistic effort, the whole thing was deemed a great organizational success, with accommodation, transport, security, you name it, all running smoothly. . in the 'Zona Sul'. Six months later we witnessed - in real time - last week the police forces going into the favelas (now called 'comunidades') to deal with powerful crime syndicates. At face value: 160 Brazilians dead, and most probably still counting. There is little state capacity in the favelas. And when there is little state capacity, there is a vacuum, and with a vacuum bandits take over and they end up 'taxing' the population, 'allocating' resources (including accommodation) and 'providing' public goods (including employment). What happened last week was a territorial dispute between the state and the 'state'. Solutions? Economic history, political economics and game theory all help to understand what happened last week and also provide possible policies going forward. But there are no quick fixes, development is "a long and narrow road". 👉 #brazil #brasil #statecapacity #politicaleconomics #publicgoods #inequality #crime #violence #rio 👇
>> ...a system that has generated vast profits for private corporations while undermining the decision-making capacity of the state and leaving unheeded the aspirations of ordinary people. <<
Can you hear, Keir?
#Privatisation #UKPolitics #Politics #StateCapacity #KenanMalik
How China’s Patriotic ‘Honkers’ Became the Nation’s Elite Cyberspies
https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.wired.com/story/china-honkers-elite-cyber-spies/
Really grateful to be able to present at today’s #BanffForum in Whitehorse – thanks to Lydia, Jennifer, and the team for having me there!
For anyone interested, here’s the slides and links that I shared today: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1NnUGR2ya-hsAyYX8bWTmYTTYHDO4d7AnyK2BPz8vMls/edit #statecapacity
State capacity, or, can we get from public service mediocrity to public service excellence? Sean Boots Banff Forum 2024 – Whitehorse, Yukon sboots.ca @[email protected]
NBD, just 🔥 and 🎤 drops from @sboots in a letter to the head of the public service in the government of Canada:
https://sboots.ca/2023/11/06/to-the-clerk-and-friends/
“a set of radical (but implementable) ideas that would make the public service better equipped to handle the challenges of today and tomorrow” #statecapacity
Below are a set of radical (but implementable) ideas that would make the public service better equipped to handle the challenges of today and tomorrow. We need to invest in state capacity in Canada, and that starts with changing our public service structures, processes, and organizational culture for the better.
Miguel Afonso Caetano
Manoel Bittencourt
Jonathan Emmesedi
WIRED - The Latest in Technology, Science, Culture and Business
Sean Boots
Hillary Hartley