Does competition constrain the State?

Many people rightly worry about the growth of government. Once programs and bureaucracy to administer them are in place, it is difficult to walk back the services as people have become dependent upon their economic benefits. So what does constrain a State (here the term State refers to any geographically described governance such as counties or cities)? Here are some instances of decline through norms, amenities, fraud and over regulation.

1. Negative public perceptions. Police departments across the state of MN are having a difficult time recruiting and maintaining officers of the law. The money is there for the salaries but the workforce is plying their trade elsewhere. The defubd movement didn’t hit their target yet they set enough negative energy out into neighborhood block parties and family reunions, that more and more peace keepers no longer want wear blue.
2. Competition with other States. If towns on the edges of corn and bean fields can’t figure out a way to keep their residents, then the towns diminish until they become a cluster of buildings at a rural crossroads. Municipalities large and small are always in the hunt to keep up their business community for an employment base, their core services so residents can be comfortable, and their extra amenities which makes them stand out. Although being more efficient with what you have is not necessarily an indication of size, it is a measure of more stuff per bureaucrat.
3. Interest in Exposing Fraud. In decades gone, by the existence of pork projects was a source of conversation but not outrage. Creating or exagerating a need and assigning funding through the political process is an ongoing vehicle for fraud. Mechanisms and analysis to identify missappropriations is another form of constraint.
4. Regulations send builders elsewhere. A city takes the energy and interest in new housing developments to collect a few extra fees or seed money for parks and trails. At some point, the builders say no more. Not too long ago, one suburb in the metro found that they were overcharging in when they lost a large housing development to an adjacent community.