Government Efficiency and Network Theory

Science News reports on a study relating (in a loose way) the efficiency of a national government with the size of its cabinet. Researchers in Vienna found that the development level of countries, as a proxy for the efficiency of their governments, is in general lower for countries with more members in the national cabinets. They then went on to model cabinet members as nodes in a network and found support for the observed correlation. There was even specific evidence for the decades-old observation of English historian Cyril Northcote Parkinson that decision-making is severely impaired in committees of more than 20 people. The US is getting close to Parkinson's cutoff, at 17.

Comments

Well, that explains...

[Anonymous Coward]

There was even specific evidence for the decades-old observation of English historian Cyril Northcote Parkinson that decision-making is severely impaired in committees of more than 20 people.

Well that explains the ISO.

Oh, and the corruption of course.

Re:Well, that explains...

[ShieldW0lf]

Slavery is a good deal more efficient than negotiating with unions. An Emperor is a good deal more efficient than Democracy. Do we want to live in a perfectly efficient world? No. We do not. 99% of the foolish, arrogant ideas held by those in positions of authority should be prevented from ever being pursued in a serious fashion.

Efficiency, ultra-violence, ultra-realism and secret prison camps. Gee, where does this all lead?

Government inefficiency is good.

[WK2]

Government inefficiency is a good thing. Bureaucracies (attempt to) keep the government slow and sane. The extreme alternative is a dictatorship, which is much more efficient.

Re:Power shift

[arth1]

In addition to Parkinson's, the law of recursive bureaucracy also comes into play.
Simplified, for every two or three productive persons, you need an additional non-productive person for bureaucratic purposes. This is also true for the bureaucrats themselves, so the more the bureaucracy grows, the more bureaucracy is needed to govern it.

This rule also appears to apply to efficiency, because efficiency will drop with added bureaucracy.

Re:Correlation does not imply causation

[Anonymous Coward]

Does a separate, cabinet level post really need to exist for homeland security?

No. The department itself should not exist at all, nor the rest of the alphabet soup it finds itself in. "Home Security" as it should be done is provided for in the Second Amendment with local training programs for handling, markmanship, gunsmithing and martial arts would be as much "organizing" as needed and that by the members of the local community.

"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it."
Thomas Jefferson

And for those who actually believe such a thing as our alphabet soup morass of false security should exist, Jefferson had remarks that described them well too.

"Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty."
Thomas Jefferson

There is the excellent Franklin quote that applies here well too, but I think most here at least know the words even if they don't always think and live that way. Let's not destroy or allow to die what so many have fought and died for.

"Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual."
Thomas Jefferson

I, for one, welcome our new Libertarian overlords

[Alex Belits]

Oh, wait, I did that already -- in Russia in early 90's. And all they did was giving up control of everything government had and everything government didn't have, to domestic and foreign "businesses" that proceeded to loot the country...

I have an idea. Can I be the looting businessman this time, and you all will be cheerleading Libertarians?

Pretty please?

With sugar on top?