Sam Freedman's first book aims to address issues of governance and constitutional failure, which can be difficult for many to understand.Most political novels focus on persons or ideology rather than systems. Sam Freedman's debut book aims to be an exception, but he realises that this comes with risks: "Issues of governance and constitutional failure are inherently abstract and, to most of the population, impenetrable."

The focus is on critiquing Tories rather than delving into the relationship between the Treasury and regional government, the "principle of legality," and statutory instruments.

Freedman argues that the US government's recent changes have made it difficult for even competent prime ministers to perform their duties. The central government is overpowering and overwhelmed, with perverse incentives and short-termism. The government's instinct is to centralize power and circumvent checks on executive authority, leading to a toxic cycle of centralized power and reduced scrutiny, making things worse and becoming more overwhelmed.

The author presents absurd examples of government spending, including outsourcing state capacity to Serco, Capita, and G4S, and local councils competitively bidding for central funds. A 2022 study found 53 funds offered by 10 government departments and agencies, with five levels of government and 19 organizations eligible.

Freedman apologises in his acknowledgments for failing to include the contribution of his teenage children – “Rishi Sunak is a knobhead” – because it “didn’t really fit with my systems focus”. Nevertheless, he does liven his analysis with the odd salty remark. Steve Hilton’s “big society” was “exactly the sort of amorphous and ill-thought-through idea you’d expect from someone who’s ended up as a talking head on Fox News”; Chris Grayling is “high up in the list of the least competent people to be given high office in British history”, and “having Boris Johnson and Liz Truss in charge will always make things worse”.

“People matter,” he concedes, “but systems matter more, and we will get nowhere until we fix our systems.” To his credit, Freedman has detailed suggestions as to how, notable among them giving devolved authorities proper autonomy and, crucially, tax-raising powers; beefing up the status and pay of select committee chairs (who help counter executive overreach) to rival that of ministers (who are creatures of patronage and therefore reinforce it); rebuilding state capacity, and outsourcing only when there’s a genuinely competitive market and outcomes are measurable. Plus, of course, the bread and butter of civil service and Lords reform.

It is, as he acknowledges, a huge task – but he argues that unless conventional politicians learn to give away power to retain it, there is something much nastier around the corner.

• Failed State: Why Nothing Works and How We Fix It by Sam Freedman is published by Macmillan (£20).