Populists Versus Bureaucrats by Ana Palacio - Project Syndicate


Populist leaders frequently criticize bureaucracy as an obstacle to progress, but the author argues that it is essential for innovation and liberty.
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For populists – who stake their political careers on bombastic promises and dubious declarations of quick “victories” – the deliberate pace of bureaucracy makes it an easy target. But far from a sclerotic force destined to strangle innovation and liberty, bureaucracy forms the scaffolding for both.

DELPHI – Populists love to hate bureaucracy. Alice Weidel, the leader of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland – now the country’s second-strongest party – says that clueless European Union bureaucrats are destroying the bloc’s free-market foundations. Santiago Abascal, who leads Spain’s far-right Vox party, accuses the same bureaucrats of attempting to “liquidate freedom,” while Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni calls the EU an “invasive bureaucratic giant.” Across the Atlantic, US President Donald Trump is dismantling a federal bureaucracy that he claims is rife with “waste, fraud, and abuse,” and “stifles personal freedom.” Bureaucracy, as they portray it, is the enemy of progress.

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