Government Works Weekly #54
Jobs, Events, and My Tummy's Turning and I'm Feeling Kinda Homesick
Welcome to your weekly roundup of opportunities, events, and information about how government works—and how government can work better—to improve the lives of individuals, families, and communities.
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EYES & EARS – reading, podcasts, and other good stuff
[LOOK] He promised us a Party in the U.S.A. but instead all we got was a Wrecking Ball.
Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. But I won’t dignify the destruction by copying the images here, I am sure you have already seen them. Instead, I will share a few words from WaPo book editor Ron Charles in his excellent weekly Book Club newsletter, this week titled “Demolition as satire”:
In his 1994 study, “Satire: A Critical Reintroduction,” Dustin Griffin says that true satire is “problematic, open-ended, essayistic, ambiguous in its relationship to history, uncertain in its political effect, resistant to formal closure, more inclined to ask questions than to provide answers, and ambivalent about the pleasures it offers.”
Alas, ambiguity and ambivalence are not qualities that Trump typically inspires, a situation that produces both the slavish panegyrics of Karoline Leavitt and the relentless mockery of Jimmy Kimmel.
They’re both funny in their own way, but paradoxically only Trump delivers satire of Trump that’s commensurate to this extraordinary moment – an auto-satiric performance that, to borrow Griffin’s words, is truly “problematic, open-ended.” His burlesque caricature of political misrule exceeds in scale and endurance anything his critics dare imagine.
This week, Trump’s tireless spectacle has moved from dumping virtual excrement on Americans to literally tearing down parts of the White House, reifying in fractured stone and shattered timbers what many once dismissed as mere hyperbole about the destruction of democracy. Even the sharpest editorial cartoonists can’t compete with photos of the White House weeping debris.
[LISTEN] People are always talking about the need for a progressive Joe Rogan.
But I mean, don’t we already have it with The Dig? Dan Denvir is the only podcast bro I will tune in to for 2 hour episodes, and he just released a double doozy:
Part 1: Counterrevolution w/ Melinda Cooper, 30 Sep 2025 (1hr 53min)
Part 2: From Fiscal Austerity to Monetary Abundance w/ Melinda Cooper, 10 Oct 2025 (2hr 18min)
Cooper, an Australian sociologist, is the author of Counterrevolution: Extravagance and Austerity in Public Finance. As an elder millennial, I was luckily born late enough to be immune to Ronald Reagan’s supposed charm. So I was always baffled that the generation of politicians in the wake of his Revolution have spent my lifetime mortgaging the future—not to mention the gifts left to us by the greatest generation—for… what? The mortgage interest tax deduction? These episodes explain at least part of that story.
[READ] A few good links from the last week or so…
Announcing the Recoding America Fund: A bipartisan reckoning with the administrative state, Jennifer Pahlka, Eating Policy, 22 Oct 2025.
First, the frame is no longer transparency or accountability or modernization, but rather state capacity – simply, the ability of our government to achieve its policy goals. Second, we seek to build a diverse but coherent field around that frame, one in which advocates can achieve more collectively than each could alone, while maintaining their own perspective and tending to their own politics. And lastly, we are collectively committed to leveraging this moment of disruption to achieve what’s needed for the future of our country, not what’s comfortable or convenient.
Big City Progressives Keep Flailing. Michelle Wu is Different: Boston’s mayor has been able to sustain a highly progressive policy agenda by focusing on service, Renu Mukherjee, City Journal, 16 Oct 2025.
The focus on quality of life is central to her public messaging. Consider how, for example, Wu boasts that she’s filled more than 18,000 potholes, cut the ribbon on 20 new or newly-renovated public parks, and reduced crime in her first term. Elsewhere, it’s been reported that her administration has repaired 16 miles of sidewalk, 11,130 streetlight outages, and 59.3 miles of roadway since 2022. These are the types of things that seem to matter most to voters, at least at the municipal level. [...]
Wu’s success should be a lesson for those of us who want a less progressive leadership class in our cities, too. At the end of the day, urban voters care more about whether the city works than what their mayor believes. Filling potholes might be a more effective campaign strategy in a local election than “owning the Libs.”
Second “No Kings Day” protests the largest single-day political protest ever*, with 5-6.5 million participants, G. Elliott Morris, Strength in Numbers, 19 Oct 2025.
There’s a Reason Trump Fears No Kings, Jamelle Bouie, NYT, 22 Oct 2025.
…he has refashioned the most coercive parts of the federal government into instruments designed to force his opponents — or as he sees them, his enemies — to bend the knee. And it is this, as much as anything else, that inspired millions of Americans to define their opposition to Trump in terms of royal power and royal prerogatives.
Musings 2, Adam Przeworski, Adam’s Substack, 21 Oct 2025.
Democracy and autocracy are final states: when the incumbents lose elections and obey this result or when elections are not held or become just a farce, we know where we are. But anything between them is a limbo that may end one way or another but can also last for an indefinite time.
EVENT HORIZON – webinars, conferences, and other human things
WEEK OF 27-31 OCTOBER
27 OCT: Dayton Democracy Summit [Kettering Foundation]
27 OCT: Spending Smarter: How Efficient and Well-Allocated Public Spending Can Boost Economic Growth [Centre for Economic Policy Research]
27 OCT: Insights on living wage from the research of the International Panel of Social Progress [OECD]
27-28 OCT: Congreso De Innovación Pública 2025
27 OCT-6 NOV: NYC PIT Pop Up: Rebooting the City: Tech. Justice. And What’s Next? [CUNY Public Interest Tech Lab]
28 OCT: The Future of Speech Online 2025: The Age of Constitutional Evasion: Jawboning and Other Forms of Government Pressure to Control Private Speech [Center for Democracy & Technology]
28 OCT: Bureaucracy in Modern America [SNF Agora]
28 OCT: Digital-era government skills masterclass [Teaching Public Service in the Digital Age]
28 OCT: Libraries as Civic Hubs: Dialogue, Deliberation, and Civic Engagement in Challenging Times [NCDD]
28 OCT: From green goals to black ink: Reforming carbon accounting for a new era of competition [Niskanen]
28-29 OCT: NCSL Base Camp 2025
29 OCT: Reorienting AI for the Public Interest [Data & Society]
29 OCT: Citizen Assemblies and AI [InnovateUS]
29 OCT: Selecting the Next Round of Opportunity Zones: New Evidence and Field Reflections [Urban Institute]
29 OCT: Letter to the Editor Training: Domestic Deployment [POGO]
29 OCT: Understanding the Public Trust Rule: What It Is, What It Means, and Where We Are in 2025 [Data Foundation]
29 OCT: The Inauguration Project [NYU John Brademas Center for the Study of Congress]
29 OCT: Shared Prosperity in a Fractured World [Reimagining the Economy]
29 OCT: 2025 Human Rights Awards Month: Keynote Address with Dr. Steven Levitsky [WOLA]
29 OCT: Science for Health Policy Summit [UC Davis]
29 OCT: Info Session: Govern for America
30 OCT: National Tech to Gov Virtual Hiring Forum + Job Fair [Tech Talent Project + The Volcker Alliance]
30 OCT: 2025 Levin Center Award for Excellence in Oversight Research [Levin Center]
30 OCT: India’s Open Digital Health Ecosystem: Case Study of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission [Teaching Public Service in the Digital Age]
30 OCT: Piecing Together the Permitting Puzzle: What Congress is Doing to Streamline the Process [NCSL]
30 OCT: Corporate Ownership of Housing: Policy Innovation and Organizing [Urban Institute]
30 OCT: Federal Shutdown Town Hall [Partnership for Public Service]
30 OCT: Connecting Early Childhood Development to Climate Change [Frameworks + Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University]
30 OCT: Webinar: Lessons from the Victoria Saanich Citizens’ Assembly [FIDE - North America]
APPLY YOURSELF – jobs, internships, and other ways to get involved
Heading home to Sacramento in a few days for a family function, so either the algorithms or my subconscious uncovered a lot of California-based opportunities this week. Special section below.
POLICY + PROGRAM
Capacity Building Director, Ballot Initiative Strategy Center [Remote]
Senior Policy Analyst, Elections Project, Bipartisan Policy Center [D.C.]
Rule of Law Coordinator, Public Citizen [D.C.]
Senior Program Manager (Legal), Public Rights Project [Remote]
National Policy Director, Politics and Government Relations Hub, SEIU [D.C.]
Senior Manager, Benefits Transformation Initiative, Aspen Institute Financial Security Program [D.C.]
Program Coordinator, National Issues Forum [Remote]
Research Manager, Urban Sustainability, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy [Cambridge, MA]
Program Director, Global Dialogue, Heinrich Böll Foundation [D.C.]
Program Assistant, Economic Security, The Wyss Foundation [D.C.]
CALIFORNIA JOBS (SPECIAL SECTION)
Director, Programs and Policy (California), Omidyar Network [Sacramento / S.F.]
Researcher/Senior Researcher (Health & Safety Net), California Policy Lab [CA]
Assistant County Executive Officer, Placer County [CA]
Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Advocate, Housing California [Sacramento]
State Climate Policy Manager, Pacific Environment [Sacramento / Remote]
Government Affairs Director, California Immigrant Policy Center [Sacramento / Hybrid]
Assistant Section Chief, Department of Rehabilitation [State of California]
Executive Director, Center for the Study of Child Care Employment [UC Berkeley]
MORE STATE + LOCAL
Executive Director, Amplify New Hampshire [NH]
Program Lead, West Campaigns, U.S. Energy Foundation [Remote]
Climate-Ocean and Coastal Law & Policy Research Specialist, Gulf of Maine Research Institute [Portland, ME]
Principal Associate, State Campaigns, Energy Modernization Project, Pew Charitable Trusts [D.C.]
Ohio State Director, All Voting Is Local [Columbus, OH]
Policy and Legislative Director, New Jersey, Sierra Club [Trenton, NJ]
Director of Policy and Research, Maryland’s Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) Program [deadline 31 Oct.]
Special Assistant, Operations Officer, Mayor’s Office [City of Baltimore]
Housing Commissioner, Department of Housing and Community Development [City of Baltimore]
Policy Associate (Medicaid) - Cost, Coverage, & Value, National Academy for State Health Policy [D.C.]
COMMS + OPS
Data Reporter, Deleted Data Project and Graphics Reporter, Deleted Data Project, Guardian US [NYC]
Photojournalism Fellowship, ProPublica [NYC]
Senior Editor, Dissent [NYC]
Managing Editor, Asterisk [Bay Area or Remote]
Press Officer, Public Citizen [D.C.]
Officer, Editorial, Pew Charitable Trusts [D.C.]
Chief Operating Officer, All Voting is Local [Remote]
Director, Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives, American Oversight [Remote]
Manager, Programs and Partnerships, A More Perfect Union [Remote]
Senior Vice President (SVP), Advocacy & Programs, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights [D.C.]
Associate Director of Congressional Affairs, Groundwork Collaborative [D.C.]
Chief Financial Officer, Trust for Public Land
ACADEMIA
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, NYU Furman Center [deadline 15 Jan.]
Professor of Practice, Civic Technology, Evans School of Public Policy & Governance [University of Washington]
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Digital Technology for Democracy (DTD) Lab [University of Virginia]
Research Analyst, Center on Poverty and Social Policy [Columbia University School of Social Work]
Multiple Positions, Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities [University of Notre Dame]
Research Associate Fellow, The People Lab [Harvard Kennedy School]
Assistant Professor in Domestic Public Policy, The University of Texas at Dallas [priority review 31 Oct.]
Academic Director of the Masters of Public Administration Program, City College of New York [NYC]
Policy Fellow and Researcher, Economic Strategy, Blavatnik School of Government [deadline 10 Nov.]
Housing and Land Use Law and Policy Fellow, RMLUI - Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute [University of Denver]
Full or Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, School of Public Policy [LSE]
Assistant / Associate Professor (Public Policy), Prairie View A&M University
TECH + DATA + DESIGN
Data Scientist and Data Engineer, CGIR - Center for Guaranteed Income Research [University of Pennsylvania]
IT Specialist, Protect Democracy [Remote]
Senior Technologist, Knight-Georgetown Institute [D.C. or Remote]
Senior Director, Center for Civil Rights & Technology, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights [D.C.]
Senior Data Engineer, Murmuration [Remote]
Data Analyst / Senior Data Analyst, Resonate [Remote]
Innovation Designer, City of Syracuse [NY]
Program Manager (Nava Labs), Nava [Remote]
INTERNSHIPS + FELLOWSHIPS
Fellows Program, Center for Information Technology Policy [review begins 1 Dec.]
Paid Research and Policy Internship (Spring 2026), The Economic Innovation Group [deadline 5 Nov.]
Editorial Spring 2026 Internship Program, Ballotpedia [Remote]
Fellow, Connecticut Governor’s Fellowship Program [deadline 2 Nov.]
New York City Urban Fellows, New York City [NY]
Communications Intern (Winter/Spring 2025-2026), J-PAL Europe [France]
INTERNATIONAL + CONSULTANCIES + OTHER OPPORTUNITIES
Senior Policy & Training Associate, J-PAL Global [Rabat, Morocco]
Head of Development & Partnerships, Transparency International [Germany / deadline 17 Nov.]
Programme Assistant, Regional Europe Programme, International IDEA [Belgium]
Terms of reference (TOR): Consultant for Meeting and Workshop Facilitation, CIVICUS [deadline 31 Oct.]
Termes de référence : Recrutement d’un·e consultant·e pour le groupe de chercheurs du Mécanisme d’Évaluation Indépendant (MEI), Open Government Partnership [France]
Call for Applications: Members of International Council, Transparency International [deadline EOY]
Terms of Reference (ToR): Consultant for Partnership for Democracy and Accountability, Open Government Partnership [deadline 27 Oct.]
Call for Expressions of Interest: Area Editor, Data & Policy Journal
And lots more opportunities in the last newsletter: Government Works Weekly #53.