Sole responsibility

Just yesterday, I saw a dirty street and I used my pet curse word for the government department responsible for it. My family and friends immediately protested, 'But you can't blame the government alone for it? People too have to assume their part of the responsibility'. And I lost my shirt, again.
The concerned department alone has the responsibility. We pay our taxes and select people who manage the system on our behalf. That's where it ends.
Of course, people are part of the problem. But who is charged with managing the ' people's part of the problem'? Surely, those who have accepted responsibility and get paid for it. They have the power to coax and motivate - and if it doesn't work, to penalise.
So, let them not get away with it.