Skip to content
Home/ Sludge
Sludge

Sludge

No customer reviews yet ISBN 9780262045780 MIT Press

How we became so burdened by red tape and unnecessary paperwork, and why we must do better.

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 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.

About the author

Product details

BrandMIT Press
Pub dateSep 7, 2021
ISBN-100262045788
ISBN-139780262045780
Pages168
Dimensions8.31 × 5.56 × 0.69 in
Weight1 lb
Last updated 2021-07-20 11:26
Price unavailable
This title cannot be purchased online right now — check back soon.
In stock soon — order now to reserve your copy
Delivery by Monday, September 7, 2026
Not available to order Sign in to Add to Saved list
Free delivery on orders over $35.
15-day returns. Any reason.
Secure checkout. We never store card details.

Readers who bought this also bought

More from Public Policy - General
See all
Mapping the Travel Behavior Genome
<p><i>Mapping the Travel Behavior Genome</i> covers the latest research on the biological, motivational, cognitive, situational, and dispositional factors that drive activity-travel behavior. Organized into three sections, <i>Retrospective and Prospective Survey of Travel Behavior Research, New Research Methods and Findings, and Future Research</i>, the chapters of this book provide evidence of progress made in the most recent years in four dimensions of the travel behavior genome. These dimensions are <i>Substantive Problems, Theoretical and Conceptual Frameworks, Behavioral Measurement, and Behavioral Analysis. </i>Including the movement of goods as well as the movement of people, the book shows how traveler values, norms, attitudes, perceptions, emotions, feelings, and constraints lead to observed behavior&#x3b; how to design efficient infrastructure and services to meet tomorrow's needs for accessibility and mobility&#x3b; how to assess equity and distributional justice&#x3b; and how to assess and implement policies for improving sustainability and quality of life. </p> <p><i>Mapping the Travel Behavior Genome</i> examines the paradigm shift toward more dynamic, user-centric, demand-responsive transport services, including the "sharing economy," mobility as a service, automation, and robotics. This volume provides research directions to answer behavioral questions emerging from these upheavals.</p>
$144.68