(The latest version of this page is at Pattern Descriptions. An archived copy of this page is held at https://www.patternsofpower.org/edition02/6332.htm)
The population is entitled to expect that politicians are competent:
· Politicians should ensure that public services are competently run.
· A government is responsible for setting the levels of government spend and taxation, to provide the services and benefits it has promised (3.3.8.1). A competent team meets its forecasts and avoids creating economic problems.
Politicians don’t require deeply specialised skills – they can call upon those who do – but they need more knowledge than the average ‘man in the street' so that they can competently perform their role as intermediaries between the population and the specialists.
© PatternsofPower.org, 2014