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Conversations with Tyler · 2025-04-09 · 54 min · 9,622 words

Jennifer Pahlka on Reforming Government

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Conversations with Tyler is produced by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, bridging the gap between academic ideas and real-world problems. Learn more at Mercatus.org. For a full transcript of every conversation, enhanced with helpful links, visit conversationswithtyler.com. Hello everyone and welcome back. to Conversations with Tyler.

Today I am here live in person chatting with Jennifer Polke. Jennifer is founder and former CEO of Code for America. She worked in the Obama administration and she founded the United States Digital Service. She has a background in computer gaming, media, and most importantly for our purposes, I'm a big fan of her 2023 book called Recoding America, Why Government is failing in the digital age and how we can do better. Jennifer, welcome.

So great to be here. Thank you. What is your model for why Congress has become so passive? And how important is solving that problem for reforming the bureaucracy? Oh, you did start with the hard one.

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