Governments everywhere are nowadays being overpowered by the problems and tasks they face.

This is the clear conclusion to be drawn not only from the terrible time U.S. President Barack Obama is having, but also from the travails of many other political leaders. In France, President Sarkozy seems widely disliked. In Germany, the former savior Chancellor Angela Merkel is now being disparaged. In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Gordon Brown is struggling to survive. In Japan, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's popularity is sliding. The list goes on. One and all are trying, and failing, to meet impossible expectations, impossible time frames for delivery and impossible obstacles to success.

So what are the policies that might lift governments back into the position of authority and respect they once enjoyed, and enable people to trust their leaders? The answer is that the question itself is wrong. It is not policies, however copious or detailed, but ideas that inspire today's peoples and electorates — and they need to be big ideas, too.