Why Won't Firing Officials Fix Washington Corruption?

Calley Means argues that replacing White House officials alone would not solve Washington's problems because the incentives built into the political system would remain. When Joe Rogan asks whether replacement officials could change course, Means answers that systemic reform is necessary.

His example is a rule preventing influential government advisers from taking money from foreign governments. He proposes constitutional reform and invokes the Federalist Papers to explain why he considers checks and balances more important than trusting individual officials. In his account, the founders expected people to pursue bad incentives, while modern institutions have not been sufficiently reformed. He argues that broadly supported changes can be harder to achieve than partisan proposals because they threaten entrenched interests.