Imagining the Future of Government
Imagining the Future of Government is a joint initiative of New America and the Foundation for American Innovation, supported by the Packard Foundation.
American self-governance is under strain. Congress struggles to legislate. Administrative processes perform participation without producing it. Public services have become invisible as the product of democratic decisions. The harder question is not what’s broken — everyone can name the symptoms — but what to build instead.
This project brings together a cross-ideological group of researchers, practitioners, and former officials to develop a concrete vision of what American self-governance could look like in 2050, and what it would take to get there. We are deliberately assembling people who disagree: conservatives and progressives, institutionalists and reformers, scholars and practitioners. The initiative’s premise is that self-governance runs on productive disagreement.
Four Tracks
Legislature & Legitimacy — Why has Congress stopped being the place where American disagreements get resolved, and what would it take to restore that function?
Administrative Process & Public Participation — Does public participation in rulemaking legitimate anything, or has it become theater? What would genuine participation require?
Service Delivery — When the government delivers, why do so few people notice? How can public services be visible as the product of self-governance?
Pennsylvania — What can states teach Washington? What is Pennsylvania already showing us?
Working groups in each area have been meeting since spring 2026. This site will track the work as it develops — framing pieces, session summaries, and reform proposals — and will serve as a living repository of the field’s thinking.
About the Organizations
New America is a think tank and civic enterprise committed to renewing the promise of America by continuing the quest to realize our nation’s highest ideals, honestly confronting the challenges caused by rapid technological and social change, and seizing the opportunities those changes create.
The Foundation for American Innovation is a nonprofit that believes technological progress and American dynamism are essential to human flourishing. FAI works to foster innovation ecosystems and healthy governance structures that enable both.
This initiative is supported by the Packard Foundation.
