Pan Mac picks up Grube's Why Governments Get it Wrong

Pan Macmillan has picked up Why Governments Get it Wrong, a “brilliant and accessible” guide to bad policy decisions by Dennis C Grube.

Editor Matthew Cole acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Andrew Gordon at David Higham Associates. Pan Macmillan will publish Why Governments Get it Wrong: And How They Can Get it Right in hardback, e-book and audio in summer 2022.

The synopsis explains: “Why Governments Get it Wrong examines why governments so often make bad decisions when trying to solve the problems that we face; from the UK school exam fiasco during the pandemic, to the disastrous second US-led invasion of Iraq, and Canada’s support for asbestos mining when it was known to be highly toxic. However, by exploring government failures, Dennis C Grube also shows that there is a way for those governing to get it right and improve all our lives in the process.”

Cole said: “Over the past few years I think we have all become acutely aware of how government decisions affect us and our loved ones, with life-or-death choices being made almost daily by those in power. If you have ever wondered, as I have, why governments so often make bad policy decisions, then Dennis’ book is a brilliant and accessible guide to the politics and pitfalls of policymaking. I couldn’t be more excited to bring his revealing book to readers.”

Grube is a professor in politics and public policy at the University of Cambridge, and acting director of the Bennett Institute for Public Policy. A one-time political speechwriter in his native Tasmania, he is the author of three single-author monographs on aspects of politics and policy.

He said: “Governments change the world every day, and often for the better. But sometimes they just get the fundamentals wrong. This book is for everyone that has ever stared in frustration at the TV news, wondering why the government can’t seem to get its act together. Failure is not inevitable, and the successes—when they come—can do much to restore our trust in politicians.”