75-08-B6
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Government: Big vs. Small # 2
TranscriptWhat happens to citizen participation when government units consolidate? I'll be right back. Yesterday I discussed a study on local government reform which must have confounded the liberal establishment wherever it was read because it gave the lie to that old saw that only big government can meet the needs of the people. The study to which I refer was done, I must admit, by a task force I appointed in 1973 when I was still governor of California. It was and is one of those rarities, a study done by a group of independent experts that came up with answers totally contrary to the conventional wisdom of our day. Some of these answers it found are worth repeating because they reflect feelings the average man finds difficult to express and when he does express them finds all too often that those in authority will not listen. For instance, the study found that the average citizen satisfaction with the government increases as the size of the governmental unit gets smaller. He also found that there's a strong desire among the people for decentralizing governmental authority and responsibility. In large central cities there's also a significant demand for some form of neighborhood organization to affect the delivery of public goods and services. Power to the people, it seems is more than just a radical slogan. It's also a need felt by a good many citizens. The study also finds that there's a strong preference by citizens toward maintaining the autonomy of local governments and that they want to decide the structure of their local government at the ballot box rather than through the legislature or even through appointed local officials. Our study also took a look at local government reform in socialist Sweden, where they reduced the number of local governments from 2500 to 250. They found that these things resulted: voter participation in local elections declined, citizen participation in volunteer civic and service organizations declined, local elected officials began to differ markedly from the bulk of their constituents and tended to follow the dictates of their consciences, rather than the wishes of their constituents and finally the resistance of elected officials to spending programs decreased. It's all quite reminiscent of what's been happening here in America in recent years, as government has grown bigger and more powerful. Here too voter participation has been declining. Fewer and fewer people are taking an interest in volunteer activities, it's easier to let the government do it. Too often our elected officials cease to represent us and instead inflict their views on us. And finally you may have noticed, the bigger government gets, the bigger a chunk of our income it takes and the more it spends on your behalf, whether you want it or not. A little bit of Sweden, it appears, is a little bit of knowledge. It can be a dangerous thing to our heritage of keeping government close responsive and responsible to the people. We've already lost a lot of that heritage. Only we the people can make sure that we don't lose it all. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
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