Patching is also less effective when the governing body functions slowly, or when the governing body doesn’t have a unified vision of whether a patch is even necessary. That is, when the system doesn’t have a clear goal. What, for example, does it mean to “patch” the tax code? In most cases, it means passing another law that closes the vulnerabilities from the original law. That’s a process that can take years, because the tax code is created in the political realm, which is characterized by competing visions of what public policy should accomplish.
