Government Needs To Be Better At What It Does

Some participants want less government, not just less federal government but also less state and local government. Meanwhile, others look to government to provide the answer, whatever the question might be. This difference in approach is of course nothing new, stemming back to the first days of the Union.

But those on both sides, whether they prefer big government or little, agree that government needs to be better at whatever it does. This is the seventh of “10 principles to unite America” that look both to the past and to the future, reminding us of what we hold dear as Americans and at the same time challenging us to do better. They stand out as common purpose for our nation.

Introduction to this project

Use of uncommon methods

Based on four very different locales

In some cases, the shortcomings of government are seen as a failure of leadership.

Mike in Concord: When you don’t have leadership, the process becomes even more frustrating and bureaucratic. That’s what we’re seeing now. Nothing is getting done at the national level.

Pat in Superior: Why can’t you go into government to make the best possible decision you can on each and every issue, regardless of the influence of lobbyists and all that?

But just as often, the culprit is thought to be in the execution. This could be in building schools, administering welfare, reducing red tape, what have you. The people of Ajo don’t have much local government but they have become quite the experts on the Border Patrol. They’re sure all the smugglers along the border start loading their vans whenever storm clouds gather because everyone knows that when it rains, the Border Patrol closes the checkpoints it operates along key roadways within the U.S.

Bill in Superior mentions one state regulator with his hand out, only to have the man’s successor up the ante several years later. And a building inspector asking him to judge whether an electrical project had been done to code. Bettis in Edgefield rails at getting a project approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, only to have it shut down by a South Carolina agency with overlapping authority.

Carmin in Concord: Bureaucracy is frustrating and wasteful, and inefficient.

Bettis in Edgefield: Government needs to be very efficient in whatever it does.

Government — at all levels — needs to be better at what it does. Continuous improvement should be in order, but fixes don’t come easily. Those on the ground have little or no say in the lawmaking that governs their work. Nor are they blessed with the entrepreneurship, financial incentives, or in most cases the competition to spur them to get better.

Diana in Concord: Who is going to reform the government? It’s not going to be the government. I think it’s going to be the people. An educated populace who understand the specifics, how the government works, what the responsibilities are.