2 Under what conditions will competition among politicians for votes result in an efficient quantity of a public good? If competition between two political parties is to deliver the efficient quantity of a public good, bureaucrats must cooperate and help to achieve this outcome. But bureaucrats might have a different idea and end up frustrating rather than facilitating an efficient outcome. Their actions might bring government failure.

Objective of Bureaucrats Bureaucrats want to maximise their department’s budget because a bigger budget brings greater status and more power. So the Emergency Services Department’s objective is to maximise the budget for flood rescue helicopters.

Figure 15.6 shows the outcome if the bureaucrats are successful in the pursuit of their goal. They might try to persuade the politicians that 3 helicopters cost more than the originally budgeted amount; or they might press their position more strongly and argue for more than 3 helicopters.

In Figure 15.6 , the Emergency Services Department persuades the politicians to provide 4 helicopters. Why don’t the politicians block the bureaucrats? Won’t overprovision of helicopters cost future votes? It will if voters are well informed and know what is best for them. But voters might not be well informed, and well-informed interest groups might enable the bureaucrats to achieve their objective and overcome the objections of the politicians.