Cause Of Government Failure

Explain the justifications for and goals of public policy, please discuss factors inherent in government that provides opportunities for public/Government failure?

Developing countries face many issues that developed countries don’t have to worry about. From structural problems within the government, to issues with feeding their citizens these countries struggle with what appears to be basic survival issues. In comparison to developed countries, citizens of developing countries life expectancy is shorter, This doesn’t mean that they lack the resources needed to succeed, a majority of these countries just lack the ability to manage their resources efficiently. Corruption, exploitation and lack of a stable economy prevent these developing countries from transitioning from developing to a developed nation .

Government failure happens when policies veer away from traditional institutional norms, electoral mandates, and industrial market forces. According to the public choice theory, public policy outcomes often conflict with public opinion, public awareness, and the economic forces of markets. Eg: Crowding out – government spending encroaches on private sectors.

In America’s pre-revolutionary days, the American people were oppressed by King George III and his unfair policies. After winning independence from Great Britain, America’s leaders decided that a weak central government provided by the Articles of Confederation would solve their former issues with tyrannical powers. However, the Articles failed after only a few years and the new country was in need of a strong central government and a leader, which the Constitution provided. The framers of the Constitution created an executive branch because America was in need for a leader due to the failure of the Articles of Confederation to provide a strong central government. The three branches of government were created in order to evenly distribute power to avoid tyrannical rule. The president was given the power to issue executive orders, however, the president’s powers was limited by a series of check and balances made by Congress and the judicial branch to avoid to rise of a tyrannical leader like King George III.

Public goods are one of the main types of market failures that the government often has the ability to solve. Public goods such as medical, education, and employments can be seen as market failures. An example of a public good would the post office. The government controls the majority of shipping and package delivery but also the ability to solve the problem of lost budgets annually and the increasing rates of shipping. The post office is a necessity and is failing based on the lost revenue every year. The post office is also losing its labor supply based on the loss income and profit. The government can allow for the post office to become publicly run where a profit can be made and allow for an oligopoly to keep prices low with removed competition. The government has the option of stepping out of the market and allowing it to grow within a free market system.

In early societies, the surplus of goods and resources was rather limited compared to today. This limitation of goods is what kept the societies from being influenced by inequality. In the United States today, goods and resources are not necessarily limited. In today’s world, goods are being manufactured that are not necessarily essential for survival. This allows for certain individuals to gain resources and power, while others get nothing, thus creating the issue of inequality.

1. In the United States, the government has played an important role in production in several sectors, although its role is far more limited than in most other countries. Market failures provide an explanation for government intervention, but not an explanation for government production.

For example, countries which are poor have difficulty providing their constituents with food, water, and shelter. And so, resources are scarce, and the citizens that don’t get good food, water, and shelter suffer (Casper, Jayasundera). Also, poor nations have inadequate healthcare infrastructure, and so not all citizens have equal access to healthcare. Within poor countries there are certainly regions with good healthcare and infrastructure, and so inequity occurs within countries themselves. Economies and infrastructure can’t be solved by individual citizens; bureaucracy and large-scale political movements are needed to create systemic change. Citizens in poor nations are constrained by the infrastructure, or lack of it, within the nation. Furthermore, the law may prevent some procedures. For example, it is much easier for a woman to access contraception and terminate a pregnancy in liberal democracies rather than socially conservative nations like

The government is a big reason the country is in the position it is in right now. The government has been running from greed of wealth and

Some of the problems arising from this system have to do with the lengthy and difficult process bills must go through to be approved. The necessity of going through committees, in both chambers, involves a long process of debates and hearings where bills can easily die. The lack of debate limits in the Senate mean that either party can easily threaten to filibuster a bill to halt its progress. Also, the legislature as a whole has no check against the pocket veto.

Wide income disparities affect a countries economic growth. The poor aren’t able to help generate new growth and opportunity to spark markets to grow because

The wealthy gets the attention of the government while the poor have no voice. The poor experience inequalities especially in the area of education therefore they have a difficult time competing.

Since the initiation of the Third Wave of Democracy, several countries have attempted to form a democratic system of governs. We take note that not all have succeeded. At the dawn of this era, democracy was being applied to countries with no prior history of a governing body that was place by the people for the people hence success of such a system could not be guaranteed because of the innumerous variables that existed in each country. People being the highlighted factor of variance, it may become easier to understand how countries such as Pakistan and Nigeria, both countries prior to the Wave had no local governing machinery. Pakistan further endured a partition from India which resulted in not only an instant religious and

Regulations imposed by the government in any economy determine the market efficiency and growth. Policies and laws governing the flow of goods and out flow determined the internal trade affairs. When the government formulates policies and regulations, which is the market conducive, efficiency is enhanced. In such instances, the outcomes of the market yields can be predicted. Such ability of the policies and regulations to enhance efficiency in the markets can be enabling the government to have prior arrangements and plans concerning future economic goals. On the other hand, as the governing body there is a need to establish the effectiveness of the current policies in enhancing marketing efficiency. However, there is a need to establish the criteria for determining the correctness and effectiveness of the regulations which are to be set. Governing body should intervene in the control of the market regulations though independent bodies and private sectors should be involved in such regulations formulations. Many economies, such the United states and United Kingdom, the government has the power to intervene in the market policies. When the market fails in such instances, the government is blamed for the failure. The modern economies advocates for more freedom of choice in the formulation of regulations of the markets. Others concentrate on the efficiency of the policies and regulations in the achievement of the market goals.

Why Nations Fail takes an in depth look into why some countries flourish and become rich powerful nations while other countries are left in or reduced to poverty. Throughout this book review I will discuss major arguments and theories used by the authors and how they directly impact international development, keeping in mind that nations are only as strong as their political and economical systems.