How to Reduce Government Abuse of Power
East Bay Business Times - by Steve Strayer
Copied from the Web and Reprinted Without Permission
East Bay Business Times - by Steve Strayer
Copied from the Web and Reprinted Without Permission
Many government officials now frivolously disregard any legal limitations on their power, since as long as anybody remembers they have been able to do so with impunity.
The courts are supposed to enforce constitutions, but judges and justices are employed by the same entities as legislators and other officials, and thus are driven by similar incentives and generally have similar mindsets.
There currently is no process capable of peacefully reining in government abuse.
The only way the trend toward expanding tyranny can be reversed and our lost liberties restored is through the restoration of accountability in government. To accomplish this goal, we must replace the current incentive structure with one that rewards performance by government employees consistent with peaceful private interests.
Since politicians and officials have become adept at thwarting any efforts at reform via established channels, any effective action will have to be achieved through direct action by private citizens.
How do we accomplish this? By making the individuals who legislate, implement and decide the legality of laws, regulations and government activities individually accountable to the Constitution, and ultimately to citizens, for their actions.
An effective process would be for citizen oversight committees to examine the activities of government agencies for violations of constitutional limitations or other rules.
A committee would notify agency management of any concerns about the legality of contemplated actions, and the agency would then either modify the proposed action to comply with the rules or drop it entirely.
In cases of blatant violation of rules or abuse of authority, citizen committees would have the responsibility to terminate employment of the individuals responsible. The committees would also have the charter to evaluate agencies' overall value to the people and to call for reductions in scope or funding as deemed appropriate.
Any action taken by a citizens' committee would be subject to override only through a popular vote and would thus be immune to reversal through legislation, judicial action or any other governmental process.
This grassroots approach to government reform would offer several side benefits. There would be some ripple effects into areas other than those addressed directly. Once government employees and managers observed the changes in emphasis within their agencies, some would come forward to point out problems and cooperate in implementing other improvements.
Once a few corrupt officials were terminated from their jobs, others would either spontaneously shape up or resign voluntarily. Many government employees would find it gratifying to alter their performance from empire building to the promotion of efficient operations.
Citizens' committees would be composed entirely of private citizens nominated and elected by private citizens. Government employees would not be eligible to serve.
Safeguards would be put into place to prevent committee members themselves from promoting an increase of their own personal power. Perhaps limiting a member's service on a committee to a single brief term might be adequate.
The approach outlined here could be implemented first in California or another state through the initiative process. The alternative to limiting government abuse through this or some other orderly process is the continued growth of government until eventually we or our descendents suffer a painful collapse similar to that experienced in many other countries throughout history.
Steve Strayer is a systems engineer from Fremont. He wrote this for Libertarian Perspective. Reach him through media@ca.lp.org.
