Alasdair S. Roberts

Apr 6

Working paper: “The Broken Republic”

I’ve revised my working paper, “The Broken Republic.” It is available on SSRN. Comments are appreciated. I’ll be giving a couple of talks based on this paper later in the semester.

Abstract: “Advocates for the American republic have long celebrated its capacity for reinvention in the face of new challenges. But there are strong reasons to question that claim today. The American system of government is broken. It cannot respond effectively to major problems or reconfigure itself to perform better. It would be misguided to blame President Trump alone for this state of affairs. Trump policies are largely a symptom of systemic failure, not the cause. The real weaknesses of the American republic go to the core of its current design, which is not equal to the requirements of a large and complex polity. The system is over-centralized. Federal institutions are incapable of expressing and reconciling the aspirations of American citizens. States lack capacity to compensate for dysfunction in Washington. Political innovation and systemic reform are hampered by a nationalized party duopoly, constitutional rigidity, and populist political culture. In large part, this systemic crisis is the unintended consequence of a century of good-government reforms. Putting the system right will also be a multi-generational project.”

Mar 20

Moderator at NFOIC Sunshine Fest 2025

On March 20, I moderated the open plenary at the National Freedom of Information Coalition’s Sunshine Fest 2025 in Washington DC. More information about Sunshine Fest here | Watch video of the plenary here.

Mar 18

Talk at UMass Law

On March 19, I gave a talk at UMass Law School about the crisis in American government, drawing on my current SSRN working paper. You can see the Powerpoint slides for this presentation here. Professor Richard Peltz-Steele provides a summary of the talk on his blog.

Feb 15

Essay in the Hill Times

My essay “Rudderless in the storm: The crisis of adaptability in Canadian government” was published in The Hill Times on February 15. Read it online here | Download as PDF here.

You can also read my follow-up interview with Kate Malloy here (Paywalled) | Download as PDF here

Feb 7

Interview on Hill Times’ Hot Room podcast

I spoke with the The Hill Times’ Peter Mazereeuw on The Hot Room podcast on February 7. The subject was steps that can be taken to preserve Canadian sovereignty. Listen to the podcast here.

Feb 5

Quoted in Hill Times: Trump and Canadian sovereignty

I spoke with Sophall Duch of Ottawa’s The Hill Times about Donald Trump and the threat to Canadian sovereignty. Read the story here.

Feb 1

Reorganization study published, thirty years later

In 1993, Prime Minister Kim Campbell (right) launched a reorganization exercise that was promoted as “the most significant downsizing and restructuring of government ever undertaken in Canada.” A federal agency, the Canadian Centre for Management Development, contracted with ten academics to conduct a study of the restructuring. (I was one of them.) The overall study was completed, prepared for publication — and then shelved. Nine of the studies have now been posted online. (The tenth study is still unavailable: “There was difficulty in securing the necessary approvals for its release under the current publication guidelines of the Government of Canada.”) The author of the lead chapter, Peter Aucoin of Dalhousie University, passed away in 2011. The Canadian Centre for Management Development is now the Canadian School for Public Service.

Jan 31

Excerpt of “Adaptable Country” in The Walrus

The Walrus, a Canadian public affairs magazine, has run a long excerpt from my book The Adaptable Country. Read the excerpt here.

Dec 20

“Rudderless in the storm” in CPA

I’ve written a short paper, a precis of my book The Adaptable Country, for Canadian Public Administration. Read it here.

Citation: Roberts, Alasdair. 2024. “ Rudderless in the Storm? The Crisis of Adaptability in Canadian Governance.” Canadian Public Administration 67.4: 439–448. https://doi.org/10.1111/capa.12592.

Dec 9

Research note on strategic state in AJPA

I’ve written a research note with Ian Elliott: “The concept of the strategic state: An assessment after thirty years.” It has just been published, open-access, in the Australian Journal of Public Administration. Read the note here.