"In political systems, a good mechanism is one that helps remove the bad guy; it's not about what to do or who to put in. For the bad guy can cause more harm than the collective actions of good ones." (Nassim Nicholas Taleb, "Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder")

"the art of the legislator is limited to the prevention of everything that might prevent the development of their [members of the assembly] liberty and their intelligence."
(Jon Elster, "Preventing Mischief")