Selli lling ng lif life- e-cyc cycle concepts w withi hin t n the po poli litica cal system

摘要

The basis of all political systems is retention of power for those in office. This isrntrue for democratic, representative, royalty and autocratic systems. Public perception of servicernto the public at large, or at least those with influence, enhances this goal in the political system.rnBecause people tend to value immediate returns, the concept of optimal design selection basedrnon life-cycle cost analysis is fundamentally at odds, therefore, with political systems. Instead,rnproducing the most immediate benefit for the least cost is a natural inclination for those with politicalrnpower when designing public infrastructure such as bridges, transportation and other networks.rnRecognizing this conflict and developing procedures to enhance the acceptability ofrnlife-cycle costing will result in increased acceptance and use of this clearly optimal method forrnsociety.rnAsis Several methods are suggested that will make life-cycle costing more consistent with politicalrnrewards. These include public for a to educate people on the increased long-term value ofrnlife-cycle costing, case studies of projects with high initial cost and low maintenance as well asrnthose with lower initial cost and high maintenance, and a public infrastructure report that informsrna community of the capital, operating, maintenance and risk costs of all infrastructure.