Ten Secret Truths About Government Incompetence

Donald F. Kettl in the Washington Monthly talks about what we don't know about government.

1. Government works better than most people think most of the time.
2. Good management can't win elections but bad management can ruin presidencies.
3. We don't distinguish between failures that have consequential impacts and those that don't.
4. We say we want government run like the private sector but we expect government to meet standards to which the private sector couldn't come close.
5. Much of the government work isn't done by the government.
6. The problem isn't too many bureaucrats but too few.
7. Half the time when it looks like the President's fault, the problems actually originate in Congress.
8. Critics of government will create self-fulfilling prophecies by under-funding and sabotaging programs they don't like.
9. Government can be improved very quickly but can be wrecked even faster.
10. Presidents can make big gains if they pay attention.