Interview on Global News’ West Block
On May 4, I talked with Mercedes Stephenson on Global News’ The West Block about my book The Adaptable Country. Full video here; interview starts about four minutes in .
May 4
May 3
Levine Lecture at American University
I’m looking forward to delivering the 2025 Charles Levine Memorial Lecture at American University’s School of Public Affairs on May 2, 2025. The title of my lecture is “The Broken Republic.” A background paper is available on SSRN | Read the introduction on Substack.
Keynote speaker at OHA meeting
I’m looking forward to being a keynote speaker at the Ontario Hospital Association’s Health Care Leadership Summit, being held in Toronto on May 1. You can read a Q&A on the OHA website related to my talk.
Interview on Trump’s “hundred days”
On April 30, I spoke with Sam Dingman of KJZZ FM about the dangers of the “hundred days” benchmark for new presidents. Listen here. The interview was based on my 2021 article for Wilson Quarterly, “The Hundred Day Mistake.”
Panelist at conference on self-governance and pluralism
On April 25, I participated in the conference on self-governance and pluralism organized by the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University. Details about the conference here. I spoke about my work on centralization and decentralization in government.
Review of “Adaptable Country” in Literary Review of Canada
The Adaptable Country is reviewed by George Anderson in the May issue of Literary Review of Canada. Anderson writes: “This is a timely book, especially given Canada’s need to deal with the brutal reality of Donald Trump, whose animus toward us, including talk of annexation, is creating a fundamental crisis for our federal and provincial leaders . . . While Canadians continue to have an enviable place in the world, we face growing uncertainty. Most dramatically, even our close relationship with the United States can no longer be taken for granted. There is a pressing need to develop new capacity for crisis management and for in‑depth reflection on our longer-term challenges. The Adaptable Country helps make the case for action.” Read the full review.
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.”
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.
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.
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
Alasdair S. Roberts 
