Why is the American government so inefficient?

[warpus]

I just came across this quote in another thread:

I will start to worry when the same organization that runs the DMV runs health care.

Now, that might have been said with a bit of tongue in cheek (or maybe not), but either way, there's a lot of sentiment out there like that, and it's mostly coming from people who have first-hand experience of the matter at hand ie. they live in the U.S.

So why is the U.S. government so inefficient?

Is it just because the U.S. is such a large country, and so it's harder to administer as efficiently as smaller countries?

Or is the problem with the U.S. government itself? Does any of the fault lie with the way it is structured? (ie. 3 branches, etc.) Or is it the people? Bit of both?

Could it be made efficient? What would have to be done?

 

[choxorn]

Because we elect idiots to the top positions, and then make stupid decisions. For the most part, that's because the people electing them are complete morons.

 

[Bill3000]

It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. People who distrust government don't want to make government better, just disappear.

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

The in-efficiency of the US government is what makes Fascism so appealing to some people.

 

[GoodGame]

I just came across this quote in another thread:


So why is the U.S. government so inefficient?

Biggest problem with large bureaucracies is the lack of inter-departmental communication.

 

[amadeus]

So why is the U.S. government so inefficient?

First, it's large and unaccountable; efforts at reducing the size of government or increasing accountability usually result in a larger, even more unaccountable government.

Second, you have radicals and reactionaries in Congress that create duplicate programs for everything; Obama is just one of many nitwits in the Oval Office to ensure that there are as many different bureaus as possible. Rather than having one umbrella program for government health care programs, we have several; Medicaid and SCHIP do essentially the same thing, the Department of Homeland Security just took over a bunch of agencies already run by other departments, you've got the ONDCP and DEA, the NSA and the CIA, and all other kinds of overlapping jurisdictions and bureaucracies that result in government infighting.

Third, you've got all of those aforementioned offices all lobbying for additional funds every year, and rather than show restraint and make an initially unpopular decision to cut some of those groups, Congress just goes ahead and funds all of them at a rate double that of inflation.

 

[.Shane.]

lol, and you think corporations are effecient?

Just as easily as you can say "I will start to worry when the same organization that runs the DMV runs health care" you can say "I will start to worry when the same type of organization that runs AIG runs health care." Except, guess what, the same type of organization (corporation) already does run most of health care.

 

[amadeus]

lol, and you think corporations are effecient?

If I don't like what a corporation does, I can stop sending my money to them.

If I do the same to the government, I'm branded a criminal, go to jail, and lose my right to vote.

 

[Formaldehyde]

So why is the U.S. government so inefficient?

I seriously doubt there is much, if any, difference between any bureacracies of the same size.

 

[Bill3000]

If I don't like what a corporation does, I can stop sending my money to them.

If all the options are corporations, then you run into the same problem. In fact, monetary choice is irrelevant here. If you don't like what a government does, you can vote the incompetent out.

 

[Perfection]

Because it's a government.

 

[emzie]

The biggest problem is the checks and balances. 200 years ago diluting power made sense. As such, Congress is pretty weak compared to Westminster systems.

But when you're trying to do some broad things, you have any number of ways to be thwarted. Can't secure 40% of the Senate? Water your bill down more. President has a different agenda? Water it down more.

As a result you get many many patchwork systems. True reform is too hard to do.

 

[amadeus]

If all the options are corporations, then you run into the same problem. In fact, monetary choice is irrelevant here. If you don't like what a government does, you can vote the incompetent out.

Presumably, competition would exist between the corporations and I'd be able to choose the plan that works best for me, and it isn't as though each corporation is some mammoth entity; there's a lot of small companies I'd be able to buy policies from too.

 

[warpus]

Because we elect idiots to the top positions, and then make stupid decisions. For the most part, that's because the people electing them are complete morons.

Isn't that how it works in most countries?

I seriously doubt there is much, if any, difference between any bureacracies of the same size.

I've heard from many European posters that the E.U. is highly inefficient. Is this true? And what about China, India, Brazil, Russia, etc.?

The biggest problem is the checks and balances. 200 years ago diluting power made sense. As such, Congress is pretty weak compared to Westminster systems.

But when you're trying to do some broad things, you have any number of ways to be thwarted. Can't secure 40% of the Senate? Water your bill down more. President has a different agenda? Water it down more.

As a result you get many many patchwork systems. True reform is too hard to do.

That makes sense to me. But how does that translate to say.. the DMV sucking so much?

 

[Bill3000]

I've never had a single problem with the DMV. For that matter, the DMV is a state-by-state basis. It's just stupid anecdotes.

 

[amadeus]

I've never had a single problem with the DMV. For that matter, the DMV is a state-by-state basis. It's just stupid anecdotes.

Likewise, although it was strange as the licensing bureau in my hometown had three offices for a town of about 7,000 people, each one serving some different function; there was one at the mall for testing, one at the county courthouse for paperwork and taking your picture, and one for actually issuing licenses and doing title transfers... seems like all of that should just be done in one place, since it all fits under motor vehicle registration/licensing procedures.

 

[Earthling]

For that matter as well, I'm pretty sure for every anecdote about the DMV there are probably 10 more out there about fast-food employees, those paragons of private, free-market, corporate capitalism.

I'd contend that the US federal government really isn't that inefficient though - since this thread lacks really any specifics, I can just say that it's been a more stable, less corrupt government than the vast majority of nations have had throughout history. If you want inefficiency, look at Zimbabwe, or dozens of other way more inefficient nations. Otherwise this thread is too broad to talk about all sorts of various programs or structures and how each may or may not be efficient.

 

[cardgame]

Like an earlier post said, but simplified down to one sentence:

Too many agencies with the same and/or similar jobs and seperate funding.

 

[Imperialmajesty]

All large nations governments are inefficient. It is the price of being a large nation, among other things.

 

[Bill3000]

Like an earlier post said, but simplified down to one sentence:

Too many agencies with the same and/or similar jobs and seperate funding.

That doesn't say much about the inefficiencies of the agencies themselves, though.