Inside Job: How Government Insiders Subvert the Public Interest

Inside Job: How Government Insiders Subvert the Public Interest
ISBN-10
1107153735
ISBN-13
9781107153738
Series
Inside Job
Category
Business & Economics
Pages
320
Language
English
Published
2017-03-31
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Author
Mark A. Zupan

Description

National decline is typically blamed on special interests from the demand side of politics corrupting a country's institutions. The usual demand-side suspects include crony capitalists, consumer activists, economic elites, and labor unions. Less attention is given to government insiders on the supply side of politics - rulers, elected officials, bureaucrats, and public employees. In autocracies and democracies, government insiders have the motive, means, and opportunity to co-opt political power for their benefit and at the expense of national well-being. Many storied empires have succumbed to such inside jobs. Today, they imperil countries as different as China and the United States. Democracy - government by the people - does not ensure government for the people. Understanding how government insiders use their power to subvert the public interest - and how these negative consequences can be mitigated - is the topic of this book by Mark A. Zupan.

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