&gt;I&#x27;d just say that 80% of the US population lives in urban areas (from the census information I found), which are likely to be served by larger public service departments with more unelected middle management.<p>Except for the absolute largest cities, like NYC, many urban police departments are going to be a lot smaller and less hierarchical than you&#x27;d think.<p>Also, many areas considered urban still elect their sheriffs. For instance, Arlington, VA (home of the Pentagon and Arlington Cemetery) has 10-20 story buildings and elects its sheriff, as does neighboring Alexandria, VA (a colonial city that predates DC). I believe all cities and counties in VA elect sheriffs.<p>&gt;They may choose to side with the lowest ranks of police, but it&#x27;s not as bad as a simple &quot;my direct boss didn&#x27;t pay me enough, let&#x27;s all vote him or her out.&quot;<p>In a place with elected leadership and limitless funds, so long as your union has enough critical mass, it&#x27;s in the best interests of all members of the police force to push for higher wages, more stringent work rules, etc.<p>Why wouldn&#x27;t they do this? There are no consequences for failure and lots to gain. It&#x27;s not like a company where middle management wants to keep costs down; in the government your importance has to do with the size of your budget and number of reports and there&#x27;s no negative feedback. In fact, because of how budgeting works in America, every dollar must be spent, and any savings will end up with a smaller budget next year. If anything, middle management is aligned with these demands.<p>The exceptions are agencies like WMATA or the MTA, where a significant portion of revenue comes from fares or advertisements. These are more likely to fight unions, but they are still state (or multi-state and Federal in the case of WMATA) agencies that at the end of the day answer to politicians and can still get government bailouts.<p>&gt;But as a somewhat pro-union point, remember that public employees aren&#x27;t bonused anywhere near private sector employees<p>Many public sector employees have absolutely sweet benefits, though. Good healthcare, good pensions or retirement funds, unions to go to bat for them, extreme job security, limited hours, etc. For certain classes of work government employees do make more than their private sector counterparts, but this is mostly related to low end work.<p>At the high end the government absolutely pays worse, you&#x27;re right. The max salary in the normal Federal general schedule is roughly $160K.<p>I think this is part of the reason for demanding absurd rules and benefits, since salaries are set by law, not on the market, and the electorate doesn&#x27;t want to hear about (or pay for) top talent making big bucks. Politicians respond to these incentives and cap salaries.