I take back “generally terrible”. How about “often spotty and rarely held accountable in practice”? It’s not that governments literally cannot provide good ser

I take back “generally terrible”. How about “often spotty and rarely held accountable in practice”? It’s not that governments literally cannot provide good services — it’s that when government appoints itself as a monopolist, outcomes and accountability become effectively disconnected, unless the service is so high-stakes and the quality is so abysmal that it rises to “vote the bastards out” territory.