Good politicians

Given that government exerts controls over the people, especially at the Federal level, it is hard to believe that evil people would not seek power in order to control. But let us consider if even good people running the government can actually represent the people.

I had a conversation with a friend who made the quite radical assertion that government gives power to the people. This was at the end of a conversation where I had mentioned that the government was to blame for the price increase in EpiPens. Anyone with any knowledge of economics knows that a monopolist will raise prices and restrict output. The FDA, by giving Mylan a monopoly, guaranteed high prices. Power to the people, indeed. The rich people.

Power corrupts

Even assuming good people are in charge, that does not mean that they will not be influenced by special interests. Mary Ruwart, author of Healing Our World, points out that even an honest politician may have to give in to special interests if he wants to be elected or re-elected.

If a politician has legislation that he believes would truly help people, he will not be able to get it passed if he is not elected. He will have to give in to pressure from special interest groups in order to get elected and accomplish his goals. To get his bill passed, he also needs to work with his colleagues in Congress. If he wants his legislation passed, he will have to vote on bills that he would otherwise oppose so that he can get the votes he needs.

With so much pressure to vote for bad legislation that benefits the special interests, which people are actually getting the power? Who is really represented by the government?

Well-meaning bad legislation

On top of that, there is well-meaning but bad legislation. The FDA example with Mylan is one case in point. Who is being represented here and who has the power, the people or Mylan? But the FDA was supposed to protect the people.

Other rules passed by congress are well-meaning but hurt the people. When looking at the effects of legislation, we should consider all the effects not just what was intended. Minimum wage laws were intended to help the people earn more money but have lead to record high unemployment levels for black youth. Gun safe zones were intended to protect people from gun violence but have left people, especially children, defenseless. The war on drug has lead to massive abuses of civil liberties and has decimated inner city black communities.

When people are hurt by the policies passed, can you really say that government is giving power to the people?

Regulatory agencies

The biggest problem with trying to regulate industries is that politicians and bureaucrats are not experts and are often uninformed or misinformed about an industry. These leads to industry insiders determining the regulations that get passed. Since congress often absolves itself of any responsibility for regulations by passing it on to regulatory agencies, there is often little that can be done by good politicians.

One serious problem is regulatory capture. This can happen in a number of ways. In order to get people who know the industry to help craft regulations, former employees in the industry are often hired by agencies. Employees of agencies also work in the interest of industry knowing that after they leave the regulatory agency, there is a cushy job waiting for them.

When people work together, they often form friendly relationships. Regulatory agencies need to work closely with firms in the industries the are supposed to regulate in order to get feedback. This closeness also effects how regulations are craft often benefiting the firms worked with at the expense of other firms or the people.

Can government give power to the people?

Given the problems with representative government, can power truly be given to the people? With government claiming so much power over the economy and over people's lives, corporate interests have a huge incentive to buy politicians. The only way to give power to the people is for the government to give up it's power.

More power can be given to the people by simply allowing more local governments to take responsibility for what the Federal government currently does. States, counties and cities are closer to the people and it is much easier for the people to hold these local politicians accountable.