I was also quite struck by a comment from Ben Carson, which I only now realise was one of the recurring themes of his campaign. Carson said that “our government was set up for citizen statesmen, not for career politicians.” I think he nailed a very important fact.
Read the whole post, which is about the tension between the desire for amateurs as elected leaders in a democratic society and professionals as technocrats in a bureaucracy. My view, which I think is Alberto’s also, is that the professionals will become increasingly powerful, and the elected leaders will become increasingly more like figureheads.
In terms of the Murray Edelman/Merle Kling model of insiders and outsiders, the bureaucrats become increasingly powerful players in the real game of controlling resources. Meanwhile, the elected leaders become increasingly irrelevant showmen, distracting the public with symbolic gestures.
Merry Christmas.
My favorite pet policy that I Iike to trumpet is there s should be a fixed amount of turnover in congress based on a lottery system so random people who would otherwise have no affiliation with politics get to serve office.
It seems like it’d be a good antidote to the problem described in this post.
Sortition
I’ve always found it funny that republicans want a government run by incompetent buffoons.
civil servants don’t have any real power – they can’t appropriate funds or create new programs or policies.
Federal Employee pay tables have stagnated far more than stagnating private wages — some powerful bloc, eh?
Elected leaders become irrelevant showmen? I know their powers are limited. But Trump vs Sanders will make a big difference. A Republican Congress vs a Democratic one will make a big difference.
Precisely the point made by the 1980s dark political comedy series, “Yes, Minister” (and “Yes, Prime Minister).
Also, the present government in Japan and all local school administrations (go ahead,elect a “pro parent” slate into a board- majority and see what they can effect).
“Meanwhile, the elected leaders become increasingly irrelevant showmen, distracting the public with symbolic gestures.”
You mean, like in local school boards?
Beat me to it!
Presidents appoint Supreme Court justices, Cabinet officers, agency heads, generals and admirals, ambassadors, other federal judges, several thousand upper-level civil service personel ….
Do you think American government will be basically the same thing whether those appointments are made by Hillary Clinton or Ted Cruz?
NSA.
As others have stated, this was the model in Japan for a long time. Pretty much explicitly recognized by everyone involved as well. Changing a bit over the last 15 years with more activist PMs like Koizumi and Abe.