Why Nothing Works - The reason Why America Can't Build Anymore

The Book Brief Project · Jul 9, 2026 · 9m

Why Nothing Works begins with a democratic paradox: institutions designed to protect people from concentrated power can also make collective action increasingly difficult. Marc J. Dunkelman argues that the United States has accumulated so many procedural checks, review mechanisms and opportunities for opposition that building housing, transportation, clean energy and major infrastructure has become slower, more expensive and sometimes nearly impossible.The book traces that problem through twentieth-century American political history, from the era of powerful builders such as Robert Moses to…