Crowd funding government.

Would you accept this deal?
Someone on a blog was talking of sacking all public servants.
Its the wrong strategy.

We need to make the public service work like the market. We have emerging tools. Crowd sourcing and insurances can do 80-90% of what governments claim they are there to do.
Our public servant needs to be a social entrepreneurs. Tools need to be set up to make them such entrepreneurs. Its mostly just software as the links below show.
Try these examples.

The bridge needs fixing. A social entrepreneur, Mr Bridger, has $10000 and the connections to get it done at $200000.
He offers the following deal on yourroad.org *
Pay $1 - $10 and get an internet thank-you note.
Pay $11-$100 and you get a sticker to put on your car.
Pay $101 and your name will be embossed on the handrail.
Pay $2000 and you get a table at the bridge opening dinner (max 20 seats be quick).
If $200000 is raised/pledged by November the money comes out of your account and the bridge will be repaired.
If under $200000 is raised by November your money will be refunded (or never collected from your account), You will still get the internet thankyou note and Mr Bridger will pay you $5000/ the number of individual participants.
If more than $200000 is raised; its oversubscribed. Mr Bridger will take a 5% profit, contribute half the remaining surplus to charity (named) and will find another bridge.
Needless to say the thankyou note, sticker and embossed handrail all cost a fraction of the remaining $5000.

This is the most powerful crowd funding contract possible. If the 200000 is raised the bridge gets fixed. If not; those giving up their credit card details 'get their money back' with a tiny profit. The Social Entrepreneur only risks $5000 of his $10000. He may spend some of the rest on advertising in October if he's close.

The first actor problem is solved. Anyone contributing first risks nothing and may even profit if he is the only person tossing into the hat. Digital tracking makes the transactions on the site cheap treading to free. Frauds get dropped from the site. The cost is spread thinly over many people so the free rider feels little financial pressure but a little social pressure "Where's your sticker Bill?" With less than 50% paying tax the free riders are abundant today. With some of that tax being public service staff pay going around and around in the tax system the numbers are often much lower.

How would this finance a pension for a disabled person? These are the true undisputed poor not the lazy.
Its simple, the money goes to a savings account with a gold based inflation hedge (if needed). Part of the interest is compounded part is paid out as a few hundred a week. The best target would be about $500000. At 5% that would pay $235 week; 52 + 1 Christmas bonus. With half compounded until the trust's doubled. If there are exotic medical costs another round of fund-raising would buy extra medical insurance. This person is set for life and never needs to be a government problem ever again. 

How would it do flood rescue? Buys equipment, train people, pays a very poor person to put his house up on stilts.
Can you create a private animal park and put tracking collars on lions? Their already being funded this way.

What would you not fund?
If you think the town drunks not worthy of your money would you throw a dollar in for the chance of the Social entrepreneur's $5000? 
(we need an easier term than Social Entrepreneur, SE)

Social Entrepreneurs replace bureaucracy, treasury and money bills in legislatures. They could fund a money bill in the legislature. Everything with the exception of law and defence could be crowd sourced and they could fund equipment, insurances and research there too.

Is the freerider still riding free? Yes so are all non taxpayers today. Are there positive externalities to others? Yes but so what if Joe from interstate gets to cross the bridge once a year! Are there any externalities that can't be financed this way? I don't think so.
As long as its as easy as posting on facebook, as simple as Kickstarter, its mostly free digits until you hit the target. Then it will fly like this kickstarter project.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/597507018/pebble-e-paper-watch-for-iphone-and-android
Kickstarter is 'no dollars down' preorder capitalisation! {Business finance banks are toast.}

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assurance_contract

* yourroad.org is not real, yet.