U.S. Politics Are Broken: Here's How Industry Competition Theory Can Help Fix the System

25 Oct 2024

---

Unhealthy competition is at the root of political dysfunction. Applying a famous business framework can help identify the best ways to fix it. (This video was originally published in 2020.) Although people tend to think of the American political system as a public institution based on high-minded principles, it’s not. Politics behaves according to the same kinds of incentives and forces that shape competition in any private industry. Our elections and our legislative systems are drowning in unhealthy competition: The political-industrial complex wins, and the public interest loses. Business, in pursuing its short-term interests, has become a major participant in the politics industry, exacerbating its dysfunction. We can have healthy competition in politics—results, innovation, and accountability—by redesigning how we vote to connect acting in the public interest with getting reelected. Katherine Gehl's application of Michael Porter’s Five Forces framework illuminates the root causes of political dysfunction and points to the most powerful levers for transformation. For more, see Katherine Gehl and Michael Porter's book, "The Politics Industry: How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save Our Democracy", at https://amzn.to/2HB12Cu Books, tools, and more: store.hbr.org Follow us: https://hbr.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/harvard-business-review/ https://www.facebook.com/HBR/ https://twitter.com/HarvardBiz https://www.instagram.com/harvard_business_review Sign up for Newsletters: https://hbr.org/email-newsletters #HarvardBusinessReview #Politics #Election #Voting #RankedChoiceVoting #Business #Harvard #HarvardBusinessSchool Copyright © 2024 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices