Why are we governed badly................?

 

....................Arnold Kling weighs in:

But I want to articulate two reasons for government failure. One is that without the profit incentive, government selects for the wrong behavior in managers. The second reason is that government tries to do too much. As a sprawling enterprise, government is bound to be clumsy.

One of my aphorisms is that an organization gets what it selects for. Successful firms select for people who can manage the business so that it meets customer needs.

Government and non-profits do not select for managers with the ability to deliver results. They select for people who are good at playing the game of status and power within an organization.