Public Interest Capacity: The Case of Direct File

This article describes the conditions for creating and undermining public interest capacity, that is, the ability of the state to generate public goods with widely distributed benefits. The creation and elimination of Direct File, a free, online public tax reporting system in the United States, offers an instrumental case. The creation of Direct File depended upon political commitment sufficient to overcome private interests: both the traditional dependence on private contractors to produce digital products, and the opposition of the private tax preparation industry which saw Direct File as a competitor. Political will was not enough: creating internal capacity in the form of skilled government tech teams who could build a quality digital product was also necessary. But without this political commitment in the Trump administration, which instead pursued downsizing and was receptive to the tax preparation industry arguments, both Direct File and the team that built it were eliminated.