Nothing special about a Republic. If it has a large police force whose allotments of funds come on the basis of superficial law enforcement activity which can b

Nothing special about a Republic. If it has a large police force whose allotments of funds come on the basis of superficial law enforcement activity which can be tracked and used by politicians for campaign talking points, the fundamental incentives at play are still power and wealth. The politician's salary depends on his understanding of getting elected, and not much else. The politician controls the policeman's salary, which now depends on doing things that will make the politician look good. Some politician, or group of them, figured out that tough-on-crime looks good as a talking point. Nixon figured out that war-on-drugs looks great as a talking point. But at some point, the financial incentives for a whole built out bureaucracy become self reinforcing, even if the citizens' aggregate beliefs change. But there's nothing special about a Republic. The mob, a totally different sort of shadow-government, though empowered by prohibition, continued to exist long after, up to today. There was a self reinforcing financial incentive for it to continue. Related is another quote I like, the Shirkey principle: “Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution.” —Clay Shirky