Wish List 0 Wish List 0
Download high-resolution image

Sludge

What Stops Us from Getting Things Done and What to Do about It

Author Cass R. Sunstein
Ebook
The MIT Press
On sale Sep 07, 2021 | 168 Pages | 978-0-262-36533-8
Add to cart Add to list Exam Copies
See Additional Formats
The New York Times–bestselling author of Nudge reveals how we became so burdened by red tape and unnecessary paperwork—and why we must do better.

“If nudges have a mortal enemy, or perhaps the equivalent of antimatter to matter, it’s ‘sludge’.” —Forbes

We’ve all had to fight our way through administrative sludge—filling out complicated online forms, mailing in paperwork, standing in line at the motor vehicle registry. This kind of red tape is a nuisance, but, as Cass Sunstein shows in Sludge, it can also impair health, reduce growth, entrench poverty, and exacerbate inequality. Confronted by sludge, people just give up—and lose a promised outcome: a visa, a job, a permit, an educational opportunity, necessary medical help. In this lively and entertaining look at the terribleness of sludge, Sunstein explains what we can do to reduce it.

Because of sludge, Sunstein, explains, too many people don't receive benefits to which they are entitled. Sludge even prevents many people from exercising their constitutional rights—when, for example, barriers to voting in an election are too high. (A Sludge Reduction Act would be a Voting Rights Act.) Sunstein takes readers on a tour of the not-so-wonderful world of sludge, describes justifications for certain kinds of sludge, and proposes “Sludge Audits” as a way to measure the effects of sludge. On balance, Sunstein argues, sludge infringes on human dignity, making people feel that their time and even their lives don't matter. We must do better.
"If nudges have a mortal enemy, or perhaps the equivalent of antimatter to matter, it’s “sludge.” Sunstein uses this term to describe unnecessarily effortful processes, bureaucratic procedures, and other barriers to desirable outcomes. Sunstein has exposed this conflict head-on in his new book, Sludge: What Stops Us from Getting Things Done and What to Do about It. He shows how the most effective government programs, Medicare and Social Security, reach almost all eligible citizens because the government does the recordkeeping and offers simple enrollment processes to receive benefits."
—Forbes

“Sludge, according to Cass Sunstein, is whatever frictions separate us from what we want. It comes in many forms...even sensible requirements that take more time than we can spare.” 
—The Christian Century

"In Sludge, Sunstein shines a light in the bureaucratic darkness, and, by calling for “sludge audits,” adds his moral authority to the growing demand to clear out the bureaucratic underbrush."
—Education Next
Cass R. Sunstein is Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard Law School and Chair of the Technical Advisory Group on Behavioral Insights and Sciences at the World Health Organization. He was Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Obama administration. He is the author of The Cost-Benefit Revolution, How Change Happens, Too Much Information (all three published by the MIT Press), Nudge (with Richard H. Thaler), and other books.
 
Cass R. Sunstein View titles by Cass R. Sunstein
Preface ix
1 A Curse 1
2 Sludge Hurts 21
3 Sludge as Architecture 35
4 Sludge in Action 45
5 Reasons for Sludge 73
6 Sludge Audits 91
7 The Most Precious Commodity 109
Acknowledgments 113
Notes 115
Index 141

About

The New York Times–bestselling author of Nudge reveals how we became so burdened by red tape and unnecessary paperwork—and why we must do better.

“If nudges have a mortal enemy, or perhaps the equivalent of antimatter to matter, it’s ‘sludge’.” —Forbes

We’ve all had to fight our way through administrative sludge—filling out complicated online forms, mailing in paperwork, standing in line at the motor vehicle registry. This kind of red tape is a nuisance, but, as Cass Sunstein shows in Sludge, it can also impair health, reduce growth, entrench poverty, and exacerbate inequality. Confronted by sludge, people just give up—and lose a promised outcome: a visa, a job, a permit, an educational opportunity, necessary medical help. In this lively and entertaining look at the terribleness of sludge, Sunstein explains what we can do to reduce it.

Because of sludge, Sunstein, explains, too many people don't receive benefits to which they are entitled. Sludge even prevents many people from exercising their constitutional rights—when, for example, barriers to voting in an election are too high. (A Sludge Reduction Act would be a Voting Rights Act.) Sunstein takes readers on a tour of the not-so-wonderful world of sludge, describes justifications for certain kinds of sludge, and proposes “Sludge Audits” as a way to measure the effects of sludge. On balance, Sunstein argues, sludge infringes on human dignity, making people feel that their time and even their lives don't matter. We must do better.

Praise

"If nudges have a mortal enemy, or perhaps the equivalent of antimatter to matter, it’s “sludge.” Sunstein uses this term to describe unnecessarily effortful processes, bureaucratic procedures, and other barriers to desirable outcomes. Sunstein has exposed this conflict head-on in his new book, Sludge: What Stops Us from Getting Things Done and What to Do about It. He shows how the most effective government programs, Medicare and Social Security, reach almost all eligible citizens because the government does the recordkeeping and offers simple enrollment processes to receive benefits."
—Forbes

“Sludge, according to Cass Sunstein, is whatever frictions separate us from what we want. It comes in many forms...even sensible requirements that take more time than we can spare.” 
—The Christian Century

"In Sludge, Sunstein shines a light in the bureaucratic darkness, and, by calling for “sludge audits,” adds his moral authority to the growing demand to clear out the bureaucratic underbrush."
—Education Next

Author

Cass R. Sunstein is Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard Law School and Chair of the Technical Advisory Group on Behavioral Insights and Sciences at the World Health Organization. He was Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Obama administration. He is the author of The Cost-Benefit Revolution, How Change Happens, Too Much Information (all three published by the MIT Press), Nudge (with Richard H. Thaler), and other books.
 
Cass R. Sunstein View titles by Cass R. Sunstein

Table of Contents

Preface ix
1 A Curse 1
2 Sludge Hurts 21
3 Sludge as Architecture 35
4 Sludge in Action 45
5 Reasons for Sludge 73
6 Sludge Audits 91
7 The Most Precious Commodity 109
Acknowledgments 113
Notes 115
Index 141

Additional formats

  • Sludge
    Sludge
    What Stops Us from Getting Things Done and What to Do about It
    Cass R. Sunstein
    978-0-262-54508-2
    Paperback
  • Sludge
    Sludge
    What Stops Us from Getting Things Done and What to Do about It
    Cass R. Sunstein
    978-0-262-54508-2
    Paperback

Related Articles

College & University Reads

Videos from the 2024 First-Year Experience® Conference are now available

We’re pleased to share videos from the 2024 First-Year Experience® Conference. Whether you weren’t able to join us at the conference or would simply like to hear the talks again, please take a moment to view the clips below.   Penguin Random House Author Breakfast Monday, February 19th, 7:15 – 8:45 am PST This event

Read more

Videos from the 2024 First-Year Experience® Conference are now available

College & University Reads
 Stay Connected
Sign up for news about books, authors, and more from Penguin Random House.
Subscribe

Interested In Adopting a Title?

Contact us

About Us

Visit our FAQs

Visit Us

Follow Us

© 2024 Penguin Random House
0
    • 0
    Wish List (0)