Book Review of "We, the Citizens"

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” - Leonardo da Vinci

Adults approach public policy with the same dread that they, as teens, saw history or economics. However, when told interestingly, they inspire curiosity and understanding like few other subjects do.?

With apologies to Walter Lewin, I would posit that, “Teachers who make ????????????????????? public policy boring are criminals”. The authors of “We, The Citizens” are not criminals, though they are guilty of another crime: that of clarifying complex public policy topics with deceptive simplicity.?

That which is the subject-matter (“The Market for Lemons”, for instance) of an entire academic paper has been neatly summarized in a page. To top it, they wrapped everything in a comic book format.?

How more audacious can authors get??

The unlikely trio of Khyati Pathak, Anupam Manur, and Pranay Kotasthane boldly chart a new terrain, and come out successful. As they note in the preface, “A writer-cartoonist, a public policy researcher and an economics professor is a combo hard to come by!”

Why did they come together for this book?

They lay it out at the very outset:

• “We [India] may be the world’s largest democracy, but we still need to work towards strengthening the foundations of our republic”.
• “We often find ourselves embroiled in petty debates while the most fundamental questions that affect us remain overlooked.”
• “We do not demand more from our legislatures because of a lack of understanding on how public policy choices affect us all.”
• “That’s why, the three of us feel that India needs an informed discourse in public affairs”.

A picture is worth a thousand words

The book starts with basic concepts such as democracy, republic, state, and nation as it relates to ‘imagined communities’ and social contract. In a few pages, it captures how the relationship between the state and the people has evolved over time.

Though it may sound unpleasant, the book neatly explains why ‘coercion’ has always been the basis of state power.?

The Indian state is typically thought of as overwhelmingly strong. The book successfully argues that while the Indian state is big on ambition, it’s surprisingly weak in capacity. As the chapter’s title puts it, the Indian state has “long hands, short feet” (the copywriter in me jumped in joy at the wordplay).?

Profit, until recently, was a dirty word in India. The book explains why self-interest and voluntary exchange of goods/services is legitimate and forms the basis of free trade.?

Policymakers never tire of reiterating that incentives matter. This aspect is illuminated well through various examples, including the Cobra effect.?

To me, the most striking part of the book was how it translates fairly dense concepts outlined in “In Service of the Republic” by Ajay Shah and Vijay Kelkar. The part that elucidates ‘market failures’, situations when it is legitimate for governments to intervene in markets was well done. Having written a newsletter on this very topic, the relevant portions reinforced to me why “a picture is worth a thousand words”.?

This is also where the book grows more audacious in scope and scale. It sets out to explain why governments need to adopt the “path of least coercion” as it relates to public policy.?

The way “8 things governments do” is translated into the comic book format is commendable. Overall, the book could be read in a focused span of 3-4 hours. Though I would say this is a book you may want to revisit often.?

Why do you need to understand public policy?

Of what use is understanding of public policy to common people??

To paraphrase what’s said of ‘politics’, “just because you do not take an interest in public policy doesn't mean public policy won't take an interest in you.”

Because, whether or not you like it, public policy affects you.?

We are often swayed by broad platitudes in politics while our focus should be on the details of policy (where the devil resides).?

This is where the book scores big.?

In a previous newsletter, I wrote about a reading equivalent of Minimum Effective Dose, the smallest dose that will produce a desired outcome. There, I suggested “Missing In Action” for a starter on public policy. For advanced policy understanding, I pointed to “In Service of the Republic”. I would heartily add “We, The Citizens” to the list.?

On the back-cover, Ajay Shah’s blurb says: “Everyone who is interested in India should read this. Everyone who is interested in India should buy this for their WhatsApp Uncle”.?

The next time you see a WhatsApp forward that’s high on rhetoric and short on facts, pick up the good fight. This book is meant for this very purpose.?

For instance, your WhatsApp Uncle may consider liquor a taboo and may endorse prohibition laws, thinking they will "protect women from alcohol-driven violence from their husbands and male relatives."

But that doesn't quite end well. Because.....

Indeed, every Indian citizen must shoulder the responsibility of combating disinformation with facts, emotional jingoism with logic, and ideology with pragmatism.?

To this end, this is a must-read for “We, The People”.

PS 1: I did a 3-month intensive course on public policy at The Takshashila Institution in 2023. I wrote about my experiences here.?Anupam and Pranay were among the faculty that taught us.

PS 2: Pranay and I co-authored an article (published in Outlook magazine) on why compassion, not empathy, must guide public policy choices.?