Below is a link to an interview with Stephen Dubner. If you've not heard of him he is the co-author of the Freakonomics books which I highly recommend. Skip in to around 28 minutes for his interview.
He talks about the incentives we give politicians and concludes our current set up is wrong. Problem is, he doesn't arrive at the correct conclusions but his theory is essentially correct, democracy doesn't work. We need to abolish the state and allow individuals to make decisions for themselves. Individuals always act for societies long term interests. Politicians are only interested in the short term and kicking the can of problems along for the next person.
