Democracy, Public Service, and the Complexity of Governance

It was Churchill who famously said that "Democracy is the worst form of government except for all others". Put it another way: To be elected - the most fundamental pillar of democracy - you need to get your message to the population. The most recent advertising cost at the national level is the Super Bowl ad which cost 7 million dollars for a one-time 30 second airing. This is beyond the reach of a national party even for a rich country such as the US to spend in campaigns. Conventional wisdom (2020 data) also put the cost of a vote at 10 dollars per vote. At a national election where one needs to get 50 million plus votes for any chance at winning, you are talking about 500 million dollars. This is beyond the comprehension of most ordinary middle class individual voters. Thus, let us discuss the title of this article at a much smaller level, i.e. an election of a small town on issues which affect every resident of the town. For example, the current 2024 election of one of a five person Select Board ((i.e. the government body of my hometown of Lexington, MA (~35,000 residents) where I have lived and continuous to live for the past 58 years)). Let us also narrow the issues involved for this select person to a single one for ease of discussing the complexity and messiness of governance – i.e., the issue of low income housing. Here are the considerations:

1.       Unless you want your town to be populated only by the superrich (which will have its own problems we’ll discuss separately another time), Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) say that you must provide affordable housing for the low income households. It is a public service just like other infrastructures a government must provide.

2.       The current average price of single family Lexington house is 1.3 million dollars and that of apartments/condos at just under $900K – way beyond what most young families starting out can afford.

3.       The desire of landowners is to subdivide their land into lots and sell these lots to housing developers for building single family homes. This way they reap the largest selling price.

4.       It is unpopular or even illegal to say what a landowner can and cannot do with his land.

5.       Thus, most towns now pass legislation that housing developers must build say, 10% homes for low cost, with each development project they undertake for DEI reasons.

6.       But first one must decide what and who qualifies for these low-cost homes at below market prices.

7.       Furthermore, legislation again is required to prevent buyers of these low-cost homes to turn around and sell them at market price immediately for a quick profit. Hence, restrictions must be put on the deed of these houses so that their price will remain low.

8.       But real estate home investment is one of the principal ways of ordinary Americans manage their retirement saving. Many laws have been passed to assist people to own homes and be able to afford retirement. It does not seem fair to prevent the buyers of these low-cost homes to take advantage in these government subsidies. And if allowed, how much is fair? And what must be the qualifications?

These 8 inter-related considerations are but one issue a “Select Person" (i.e. member of an elected mayoral board) must address among the myriad other equally important issues he/she must address and manage everyday. It is literally a full-time job. My new immigrant friends are often further shocked to learn that the job is UNPAID – you volunteer to do it. Furthermore, you must raise a campaign war chest to just run the election. In Lexington you need at least 4000 votes for election to town wide offices. This means a war chest of 40,000 dollars which you must raise just to have a chance at this unpaid job never mind the energy/resources you must further spend to serve if you win.

Only in America, people compete for these elected positions.  Doesn’t everyone rather wish for a benevolent dictator as many countries have for decades, centuries, or millenniums?