> In an ideal democratic system, opposing parties would seek to expose corruption in public officials and use it to their advantage, thereby dis-incentivizing t

> In an ideal democratic system, opposing parties would seek to expose corruption in public officials and use it to their advantage, thereby dis-incentivizing the misappropriation of public funds. Look, "misappropriating public funds" is exactly why someone would work hard to get into a position where he's in charge of public funds. No one does anything without some personal gain involved. > Obviously no democracy is perfectly ideal, but your armchair analysis hasn't exactly blown a hole in modern governing theory. On the other hand, you haven't exactly blown a hole in the fact that people act according to incentives, and people in charge of vast amounts of other people's money presents a massive incentive for both bribing them and them accepting bribes. > more of mismanagement than corruption How do you tell them apart, especially considering "mismanagement" would be an excellent cover for blatant bribery. "Oh this silly city official guy chose a completely shitty service provider for this project. Maybe he'll check their track record next time!"