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Columnist Independent perspectives on the ideas and institutions shaping everyday life.

Independent publication

Politics

Why Competence Is Becoming Radical Again

In an age of spectacle, doing the ordinary work well has acquired political force.

Competence rarely announces itself. It is the train that arrives, the form that makes sense and the public office that answers before frustration becomes anger.

For years, administrative ability was treated as background detail. Its absence has made the case for it more vividly than any manifesto could.

The radical promise is now straightforward: institutions can be understandable, responsive and worthy of the public attention they ask for.