E

Effectiveness of Government

The question of the effectiveness of government has come to worry many
Western governments. Many observers, frequently conservative politicians,
claim that the modernstateis in a parlous condition as a result of what some
writers have termed ‘governmental overload’. This is said to have resulted from
government intervention in areas of social and economic life where it is unable
to make any real impact on the substantive problems; the negative by-products
include increasing public expenditure and the arousal of a widespread popular
cynicism at unfulfilled expectations. In the USA the ‘Great Society’ years,
1964–68, under President Lyndon B. Johnson, saw a major expansion of the
federal government’s role in social policy, but this was followed by a reaction
based on the observation that poverty seemed as pervasive as ever and some
problems (for example crime) even seemed to have become more acute. The
resulting mood of scepticism about the role of the federal government (see
neo-conservatism) led to an unwillingness to spend public money without
good evidence that it would make a measurable difference to the problem
involved. From desire for visible effectiveness of government comes reluctance
to embark on attempts to resolve problems in difficult policy areas, such as
social and health matters, and preference that responsibility for these be
transferred to agencies and organizations beyond direct government control.
Meanwhile, foreign policy problems which seemed to offer a highly visible and
positive result over a predictable time period came to be accepted with some
eagerness. This broad distinction between the approaches towards two entirely
different policy areas illustrates the general dislike for incrementalism, the
gradual introduction of minor adjustments to policy with their results con-
tinuously monitored, and the favouring of ambitious, wide-ranging total
solutions to a problem. However the world-wide acceptance of the limitations
of state action which came about when European Socialist parties largely
abandonedsocial democracyin favour of something like the UK’sNew
LabourorThird Waypolicies has made all governments more modest in
their aims and expectations. Furthermore the enthusiasm for foreign policy has