Lifetime political "service" may be part of the problem. The lifers realize how cushy of a job they have. They don't need to work for a living, so there is no incentive. IMO, there should be term limits all the way from dog catcher to POTUS. NYC imposed term limits, now Bloomberg wants to beat the system. Say what you want to about Giuliani; folks wanted him to run for a third term after 9/11 but he said it wasn't allowed by law and declined.

I didn't intend any slight to small acts of kindness by mentioning philanthropy; large scale philanthropy just has much more global reach. However, the man that got the Peace Prize for creating the concept of micro-loans also started small. (These have a repayment rate the envy of any big bank: well north of 90%.) There is another person who is arranging with Kenya, that if a village/town will plant 100 trees they will get a new laptop for their school. These types of activities are definitely quid pro quo; as they should be. No one should get something for nothing.

I think more emphasis is being put on "locals" who do good deeds, and that can be an incentive to others. This is also mandated in many faiths.