"I of course am a big fan of democracy and rule of law and applaud all of those studying these institutions of constraint. But successful government is the product of a balance between a strong state that can deliver services and enforce laws, and checking institutions that insure that the state acts predictably and in accord with general interests. Many of the problems we see with democratic consolidation around the world has to do with absent state capacity on the part of countries that have recently made a transition to democracy. The moment the crowds bringing down the dictator have dispersed, the next question is always, Where am I going to get a job? or Why isn’t my child getting a decent education or health care? Unless democracies have the ability to deliver on these kinds of issues, unless they can deal with pervasive corruption, they will lose legitimacy fast. This is something that states accomplish, and not the institutions that check them."
A velký Frankie přidává ještě ostrá slova k nauce o veřejné správě:
"It should be public administration departments that deal with these sorts of issues, but they have been falling down on the job. With all due respect, when is the last time you heard about an important, policy-relevant theory coming out of a public administration school? When was the last time that this field has had anything useful to say from a policy perspective about controlling corruption, either at home or in a developing country?"