Why Government Makes Things Hard: Don Moynihan on Administrative Burden

In this episode, I chat with Don Moynihan, professor of public policy at the University of Michigan and author of the widely-read Substack newsletter Can We Still Govern? Don’s research focuses on administrative burdens—the learning, compliance, and psychological costs people experience when interacting with government—and how those frictions shape public trust. We talk about the data challenges involved in measuring these experiences, how the shift to digital services changes the picture, and why governments historically have ignored the costs they impose on the people they serve. We also get into Don’s own journey as a public communicator: how a rejected op-ed about Joe Manchin and the child tax credit sparked his newsletter, what it took to retrain himself to write for a general audience, and how he thinks about balancing timeliness with depth. If you’re a researcher wondering whether public communication is worth the risk—or just curious about what makes government work (or not)—this one is for you.Keywordsadministrative burden, public policy, government services, bureaucracy, policy communication, Substack newsletter, academic writing, public administration, government trust, policy research, data visualization, civic engagement, open government, policy podcastSubscribe to the PolicyViz Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.Become a patron of the PolicyViz Podcast for as little as a buck a monthRead Don’s newsletter Can We Still Govern?Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Substack, Twitter, Website, YouTubeEmail: [email protected]