When it comes to politics, the problem isn't the politicians, as much as we'd like to think so. The problem is the people. There are no special interest groups or shadow powers in any country strong enough to steer policy away from what the public really wants but most of the time the public doesn't really want what's best for them. As an example, when Poland got out from under communism in 1989, there was a core group of people who set certain reforms in motions that were very difficult for the average Pole. When I moved there in 1992, every election revolved around slowing down those reforms and that's how it continued for the next 14 years that I stayed. Those reforms made the difference for that country and they're why Poland isn't a Ukraine today, but people bitched and complained and moaned non-stop and did whatever they could to slow things down.
It all boils down to money in your pocket. We have a huge debt here in the US, but don't raise taxes. That would change our ability to have three, four or five TVs, new iPhones every year, keep one or more cars per person in the household, buy organic shampoo, diapers and dish detergent, buy sheets with HD thread counts, spend $15 billion dollars per year on electronic games (numbers from today's news) and in general have a small minority of the people living a lifestyle that's completely disconnected from reality.