I propose a 'fuzzy tax form' to bring some personal choice into how the state spends whatever taxes it takes from its subjects. I propose that half the money go to general revenue as before. The other half goes, to some degree, to broad categories of your choice. A fuzzy tax form could fund research contests for large cash prizes.
Society gets what it gives rewards for.
So reward researchers for breakthroughs. The latest trend is to punish them if they fail to come up with a breakthrough. That does not condition the same social reflexes. California now requires a minimum number of electric cars on its street by 1998. So put up a few million dollars for the best electric car or the best way to clean up oil spills.