America used to be able to do big things. Why is it struggling now, R.I. author asks.

Boston Globe

18-02-2025

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Q:
It seems like you have pretty good timing with this book. Tell us how to apply it to the moment we're seeing in Washington right now.
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Dunkelman:
Right now many Democrats feel lost. We've spent the last several years trying to convince the country that Trump was bad – and all that effort seems for naught. I'm arguing in 'Why Nothing Works' that, to restore our political fortunes, we need to grapple with a contradiction within our governing agenda – a contradiction that has made it hard for government to make decisions and drive progress. We're the party of government, and government doesn't work. If we want to win, we need to have a plan to fix that.
Q:
In the synopsis on the back of the book, you write: 'there's nothing wrong with progressivism that can't be fixed by progressives.' Expand on that for a second. What's a tangible example you would use?
Dunkelman:
Progressives want two contradictory things – and those things need to be kept in balance. We want to empower public authority to solve big problems like climate change – to have some big bureaucracy tell polluters to curtail their carbon emissions. At the same time we're pretty skeptical of big government institutions; we certainly don't want them telling women what to do with their bodies. My argument is that we've become so focused on the latter of these impulses – the desire to protect individuals from coercive government power – that we're rendered government impotent in the places where it needs to work well. We need to rebalance our two impulses.
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Q:
It seems like we have a trust crisis when it comes to our institutions right now. Is there a specific institution or two that you are especially concerned about?
Dunkelman:
You're right. Trust in institutions of all sorts has fallen through the decades – and not just government. That was actually the focus more of my first book,
Q:
I feel like the country is divided on whether emerging technologies like AI are going to fix a lot of problems or make things worse. Where do you fall on that debate?
Dunkelman:
Brother, I thought Tim Scott was going to be a viable candidate for the GOP nomination last year, and I was pretty sure Scott Walker was going to be strong in 2016. So don't trust my powers of prediction. But I'm generally optimistic about technological change, and my hope is that AI allows those doing work they don't like to have opportunities to find more meaningful and satisfying ways to earn a living.
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Q:
What's next for you? Do you have another book project in mind?
Dunkelman:
I have lots of projects 'in mind,' but I'm not entirely sure what's next. For more than a decade I've been perplexed about why it is that train service between Rhode Island and Boston is so slow, when for a pretty miserly amount of public investment, all those biotech jobs in the Seaport could be easily commutable from places like Warwick and Seekonk. If I can find a way, I'd like to figure out why we're not making infrastructure investments in the projects that could have more impact, while simultaneously investing in many projects that don't have a lot of upside.
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Dan McGowan can be reached at