The Empty Architect

Rebuilding state capacity is not just about saving money or improving efficiency. It is about reclaiming our collective sovereignty.

The building that houses a government department often tells you everything you need to know about its current health. In the mid-century, these were cathedrals of bureaucracy. They were imposing and perhaps a bit drab, but they hummed with the energy of thousands of career civil servants who expected to retire in the same building where they started. Today, walk through the halls of a major ministry in London, Canberra, or Washington, and you will notice a different kind of quiet.

The people are still there, but look at the lanyards. A significant percentage of the people making the most consequential decisions for the public do not actually work for the public. They are “partners,” “associates,” or “leads” from global consulting giants. They are the temporary tenants of the state.

This is the era of the hollowed-out government. In most liberal democracies, we have spent the last forty years engaged in a massive, quiet experiment: the outsourcing of the state’s core cognitive functions. We did not just outsource the janitorial services or the cafeteria. Instead, we outsourced the thinking. We outsourced the design of our welfare systems to software firms, our emergency responses to management consultants, and our infrastructure to private equity.

The result is not a “leaner” government. It is a government that has forgotten how to learn. …

Continue reading this article by Israel Kolawole, “The Empty Architect,” here: https://www.liberalcurrents.com/the-empty-architect/