这些政府在公共服务方面的失灵部分反映了主导西方民主体制的政治家短期短视行为。 过短的选举周期（六个月到四年）常常迫使政治家专注于周期性问题，而忽略了妨碍长期生产率进步、收入增长、及社会公平的结构性瓶颈。
That failure partly reflects the short-termism that tends to dominate in Western democracies, where short electoral cycles (from about six months to four years) often compel politicians to focus on cyclical issues, rather than on structural impediments to long-term productivity gains and income growth.