"An illuminating—and alarming—book. . . . Muirhead and Rosenblum finished Ungoverning before the 2024 election, but Trump’s ludicrous nominations—one already crashed in flames—serve as a sort of publicity campaign for the book’s thesis."---Ron Charles, Washington Post------------------ "Spirited. . . . [Muirhead and Rosenblum] note that Trump’s grousing about sinister plots is aided by the administrative state’s ‘illegibility.’ The intricacies of policy implementation make the nuts and bolts of governing opaque. This informational vacuum is fertile ground for Trumpism."---Jennifer Szalai, New York Times----------------- "Readable and insightful, and it should be required reading for everyone from undergrads to Supreme Court justices. . . . Essential." ― Choice-------------- “It’s hard to think of a book more attuned to the times.”—Alexandre Lefebvre, author of Liberalism as a Way of Life---------- “Ungoverning provides an unflinching and much-needed look at the threat posed by a new form of politics that actively seeks to undermine the core functions of government. Muirhead and Rosenblum deftly show how this alarming and uniquely nihilistic political philosophy helps define Trumpism and threatens democracy.”—Corey Brettschneider, author of The Presidents and the People: Five Leaders Who Threatened Democracy and the Citizens Who Fought to Defend It--------------- “At a time when we face ever more pressing and complex challenges in need of large-scale state action—from climate crises to pandemics to persistent inequities—we also face a powerful new form of politics specifically geared toward the deconstruction of state capacity. In this urgent and important book, Muirhead and Rosenblum provide an invaluable terminology and framework for understanding how reactionary fervor, personalistic politics, and systematic dismantling of governing institutions constitute a fundamental threat to democracy. This book articulates the tough challenge ahead to rebuild and relegitimate the most crucial and most easily overlooked feature of democratic governance: the state itself.”—K. Sabeel Rahman, author of Democracy against Domination-------------- “Americans, like residents of every country, are familiar with arguments about what government should do, and how it should do it. But we are not used to controversy over how well government should act. Attacking the state’s capacity to carry out tasks that have been democratically chosen is an insidious, powerful way to undermine democracy itself—along with liberty and equality. Muirhead and Rosenblum point us toward an urgent issue; we must pay attention and stop nonconsensual ungoverning.”—Jennifer L. Hochschild, author of Facing Up to the American Dream: Race, Class, and the Soul of the Nation------------- “Ungoverning is an essential book for our moment, starting with a title that deserves to become a touchstone in our political conversation. Brilliantly drawing together philosophical reflections on democracy’s obligations to its citizens with a lively practical sense of how government works, Muirhead and Rosenblum offer a passionate defense of the now contested work of making our society fairer, safer, and more responsive.”—E. J. Dionne Jr., author of Our Divided Political Heart: The Battle for the American Idea in an Age of Discontent