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The Bureaucracy

The Bureaucracy. America’s alphabet soup. McDonald’s vs. DMV. Rules of Operation Workers Goals ( measuring those goals) Acquiring and Using the Factors of Production External vs. Internal factors. The Weberian Model of Bureaucracy . The five characteristics of bureaucracy.

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The Bureaucracy

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  1. The Bureaucracy America’s alphabet soup

  2. McDonald’s vs. DMV • Rules of Operation • Workers • Goals (measuring those goals) • Acquiring and Using the Factors of Production • External vs. Internal factors

  3. The Weberian Model of Bureaucracy • The five characteristics of bureaucracy. • Division of labor • Hierarchy-pyramid • Formal rules • Maintenance of files and records-Freedom of Information Act (1974) • Professionalization • Goals-promote the “public good”, but how is that measured? This causes many people to believe the bureaucracy is wasteful.

  4. Cost vs. Benefits Benefits Costs • Hierarchy: can speed action by reducing conflicts over decisions • Specialization: promote efficiency because workers focus on one job (become skill) • Formal rules: workers act with speed and precision because decisions based on rules • They are large unwieldy organization that can create endless paperwork and delays (red tape) • Bureaucrats are unelected public-policy makers • Bureaucracies are expensive and sometimes uncontrollable

  5. Neutral Competence • The idea of neutral competence • Despite stereotypes, most government employees work efficiently and inexpensively. • Roughly 2.9 million people work for the government bureaucracy-2nd to Wal-Mart • The bureaucracy is largely staffed by people hired for their skills, not their political leanings.

  6. The Merit System • The spoils system • Assassination of Garfield • The Pendleton Act • merit system and the civil service

  7. Functions of Bureaucracy • Policy Implementation • Making Policy-delegated legislative authority because what Congress passes is to vague to be effective • Regulation-establish standards and impose restrictions on violations of those standards • Collecting Data and Doing Research • Provide Continuity-elected officials come and go, bureaucrats never leave which provides for continuity and professionalization

  8. Organization of the U.S. Government No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan, 1964

  9. The Structure of American Bureaucracies • The Executive Office of the President (President’s closest advisors) • White House Staff (the “nerve center”) • Cabinet Departments-directly responsible to President, but also responsible to their department • Independent Agencies-not part of Cabinet, report to President, perform specialized functions (NASA, CIA, EPA); or they regulate the economy and protect the public (FED, SEC, FCC) • Government Corporations-work off its profits, not funded by Congress (Post Office, TVA, FDIC, AMTRAK) • Other Bureaus

  10. Advantages Less red tape and bureaucracy More competition Can obtain special skills Improve service quality Ideology-less government is better More choices for people (school vouchers) Disadvantages Incentives to reduce quality Reduced access to service for the disadvantaged Resulting cost savings directed away from taxpayer Privatization-Advantages and Disadvantages

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