ABSTRACT
The problems of bureaucracy and national governments are not due to disinterest or the absence of suggestions for change. Indeed, a characteristic of modern life, at least in democratic nations, is the plethora of prescriptions for what government should or should not do. A part of the frequent error, is attributable to the lack of a positive theory about the behavior of bureaus and the national government and, thus, to the assumption that the behavior of the national government is consistent with the normative theory. More importantly, however, the confusion of honest government with good government has no basis in either theory or evidence. The chapter offers three general types of prescriptions. These are: involves changes to or within the present bureaucracy; involves changes in the sources of supply of public goods, primarily involving market alternatives and involves changes in the political institutions and processes.
