Liberal democracy’s self-destruction
In a technocratic system, institutions become an end in themselves, and the state accumulates power. Liberal democracy has been betrayed.
The most significant challenge to Europe’s global competitiveness and individual freedom is oversized government, excessive spending, and the ballooning debt that results. The continent is trapped in a vicious circle.
Overreaching regulations and institutions are eating away at Europe’s economy and freedoms like a metastasizing cancer.
The essential roles of the state are to protect internal and external security, and foster citizens’ prosperity. Equally crucial is the safeguard of individual freedoms, self-responsibility and choices, as epitomized by the United States Constitution’s pursuit of happiness. Parliaments’ duties include overseeing the budget, controlling the administration and representing the people’s interests. An independent judiciary ensures that the constitution and laws are upheld. This framework underpins the system of liberal democracy that European countries and Brussels claim to uphold.
For this system to function, the state needs efficient institutions. However, there is an important caveat: Administration, which represents a significant public economy overhead, must remain limited. There is no definitive threshold at which the state becomes oversized, but major problems typically arise when the state’s share of the economy (including regional and municipal administration) exceeds 30 percent. If supranational institutions are involved, their share must also be included.
States are increasingly unable to fulfill their functions.
Beyond the financial burden of excessive government, there are other significant issues. Too many individuals employed by the state soak up the manpower needed in the production and service sectors. As in business, more staff leads to more unproductive work. Departments justify their existence by setting rules, often without improvement to the quality and efficiency of public services. This self-serving mechanism demotivates employees and fosters improper incentives. These bodies begin acting as authorities rather than servants dedicated to citizens.
Businesses are crippled with reporting rules that defy common sense and are utterly unnecessary. Generating these reports burdens companies and requires hiring auditing firms to perform essentially redundant tasks.
Legislators impose too many rules, forgetting their duty to control expenses and represent citizens – and the vicious circle is perpetuated.
Metastasizing government control
An exaggerated network of regulations unnecessarily limits individual freedom, while excessive taxation, stemming from an inflated and immensely wasteful public sector, infringes on property rights.
By misallocating public resources, governments strip citizens of quality public services. The primary victims are the dedicated, professional civil servants who, due to excessive and often arbitrary bureaucracy, can no longer work effectively and efficiently. Businesses and citizens are constrained and face exorbitant costs. The economy suffers while the state, through disproportionate taxation, burns through funds needed for consumption and investment.
As a result, taxes are excessive, the tax system is overcomplicated, arbitrary and frequently self-contradictory, and the methods of collection are unworthy of a civilized state governed by the rule of law.
This dilemma is further compounded by increased centralization at both the national and European Union levels, widening the gap between citizens and government even more.
We see the consequences in Europe. States are increasingly unable to fulfill their functions. Inflation and taxation, both the corollaries of failing states, impoverish citizens and hamstring businesses and innovation. It is now increasingly apparent that the expedient policies of political parties of all colors have grossly neglected both internal and external security.
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The judicial system is no longer universally respected. Rulings by the European Court of Justice, such as on data retention, are simply ignored. Certain EU rules on citizens’ privacy can be circumvented, allowing governments to collect personal data through special legislation. Rules on deficits and debts are breached throughout the Eurozone. And the list goes on.
Defense, a core function of the state, now requires significant expenditures, but funds are depleted due to gross negligence over the past 30 years.
A liberal democracy that fails to protect the freedoms, security and property rights of its citizens loses its legitimacy. If its institutions also jeopardize prosperity through overreach, then their failure is complete.
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