One of the issues that arises recurrently in the campaign is the dissatisfaction of citizens with the functioning of many public institutions. The almost generalized perception is that public services are expensive and of poor quality.
The news about recently uncovered acts of corruption, the waste and cost overruns of investments, the benefits of public employees obtained through collective agreements such as salary bonuses, extra vacations, luxury pensions from the budget and many more feed that perception. After that, the rates of public services increase, usually above the inflation of other goods and services in the economy, justified in that it is "at cost".
Added to the foregoing is the ineffectiveness of certain institutions, in which sometimes two or three try to do the same thing, without any of them being able to do it well. Others have lost their reason for being, but continue to operate so as not to lay off employees.
Hence, practically all the candidates offer the voters to improve the functioning of the state apparatus. From the most leftist candidate (“ethical” socialism) to the most liberal, without exception, they incorporate in their speech the need to increase the efficiency with which the State works.
It could be said that there is an agreement among the candidates that one of the main missions of the future ruler should be that public services are produced with very high quality, maximum efficiency and at the lowest possible cost.
In how to carry out the transformation of the State, differences arise. Some would like to do it like pruning a tree, cutting a few branches so that it grows stronger and bigger. Others would prefer the method of chopping the weeds so that the good ones come out stronger.
Whoever we choose will have a preference for one method or another. But the truth is that the application will not be easy, less so with a Legislative Assembly as atomized as the one envisaged. However, if there is consensus regarding the need to transform the State in search of greater efficiency, a real desire to help citizens and good leadership from political actors, the possibility of agreements grows exponentially.
lmesalles@ecoanalisis.org
The author is an economist.
