...The Development of Bureaucracy Congress has no authority to exercise any power beyond the constitution. The 10th Amendment states, "The powers not delegated to the United States (congress) by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." Article 1 Section 8 specifically names the powers that have been granted to Congress. If it's not on the list, it's not constitutional. Congress has the power to create, organize, and disband all federal agencies. The bureaucracy has two masters — Congress and the President. Bureaucracy is an inevitable consequence of complexity and scale. Modern government could not function without a large bureaucracy. Through authority, specialization, and rules, bureaucracy provides a means of managing thousands of tasks and employees. In truth, one hand does not always know what the other hand is doing. Congress, and the judiciary, bureaucrats exercise considerable power in their own right. Department of State was the first executive department in 1781, department of Treasury 1789, Department of War, Office of Attorney General, and Office of Postmaster General. The Great Depression was a disaster that did not have to happen. The New Deal interventions were bad for the economy and played favorites with the rich over the average families. The required acreage farm reduction really hurt the poor sharecroppers. There was mass destruction of feed even though millions of families were hungry...
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...UREAUCRACY: WEBER’S THEORY The literal meaning of bureaucracy is “rule by desks or offices, or government with a small desk.” A bureaucracy comprises of a great number of non-elected government officials that are concerned with administrative work and policy-making. Many big organizations and governments depend on bureaucracies to operate; they need consistent rules and procedures. Governmental agencies such as homeland security demonstrate best how bureaucrats function and what they do. (Blau, 1956) During the time of the great German sociologist Max Weber (1864-1920), organizations were run in a casual manner. Max Weber searched for means to create a more official structure in organizations. According to him, organizations that were run like families were less successful because authority was misplaced. He believed that workers were loyal to their superiors as opposed to organizations. Organizations that are more structured, authoritative, and rigid were Max Weber’s ideal of a fully rational bureaucracy; he imagined them to be that way. His ideal organizations were those that were able to turn regular workers into coherent decision makers that will serve clients with fairness and competence. According to Weber, the following are characteristics of a fully rational bureaucracy: (Weber, 2009) Hierarchy: a clear-cut chain of command characterizes the level of power within organizations. People who occupy positions of authority will oversee and guide those who hold lower...
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...Terry Moe’s "The Politics of Bureaucratic Structure” goes on to retort that federal bureaucracy is not structured on the basis of a theory of public administration but should instead be viewed as the product of politics, as federal bureaucracy has foundations in both political choice and self-interest. In this summary, I’ll be breaking up the perspective on structural politics into the following subheadings—technical problems regarding interest groups, political problems pertaining to interest groups, legislators and presidents structural choice, and structures. For starters, we must cover the technical problems of structural choice in interest groups. Interest groups inherently focus on politicians, which is harmful as the concern for constituencies and elections surpasses the concern of outside populations. Interest groups also have an expertise problem, and the experts that do partake in these acts may not act in the groups best interest, in turn exploiting their role. Control problems are at the heart of structural choice when considering the groups assured political power. They can make rules to restrain bureaucratic behavior though, such as criteria and procedures. Lastly is the problem of reputation, and how the reliability of a title incentives consistent behavior that could vary...
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...J, Q. (1989). Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do and Why They Do It. New York: Basic Books. pp 433. Introduction: This book about bureaucracy gained much attention in the field of public administration. Along within the field of bureaucracy this book was able to become the center of interest for general public as well. This is a valuable book. The book is very informative as it caters vast group of audience i.e. start from a general public to a professional bureaucrat. This book also give an encyclopedic information to the students of management which likely to ask the questions about the government and bureaucracy. As its review of literature is very comprehensive that is why this is the most common book among the readers of content about government agencies. The book is a comprehensive and detailed. Wilson’s book is well written and depicts the real life case studies from federal agencies and government bureaucracy especially in the United States. From the start to the end of the book the author has given the detailed demonstration about the reasons what the government agencies do and why they do that in the way they do. The purpose of this book was to provide a new fresh content about the government bureaucracy along with providing comprehensive knowledge to answer the questions asked by students of public administration. The book was very useful for the audience for which it was written. In my opinion this book is a unique study of bureaucracies like Army, the...
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...be duplicated by several teams. Poorly defined working roles may prove ineffective where team members are unaware of the scope of their roles, and thus desired or necessary work is not carried out. Read more: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/adhocracy.asp#ixzz2Dxb4zHsW Bureaucracy and Adhocracy The main aim of any organisation is to reach certain predetermined goals. In an attempt to survive and obtain this goals effectively, certain decisions must be made as to what type of structure the organisation will posses which will entail guidance for individuals associated with the group as per their duties and day to day activities. Ultimately determining how efficiently the desired goals will be acquired. Questions this structure will need to confront will include the amount of specialisation in areas of work and responsibility, the levels of management and their consequent size, the grouping of departments together for functionality of expertise, and the kind of integrative mechanism for control over work done. One of the more common types of organisational structures found within today’s society that has attempted to answer these questions of direction and efficiency is known as Bureaucracy. The Bureaucratic model in itself is not a functioning organisational structure within itself, but more of a hypothetical guide to creating ones own business design based on...
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...The Bureaucracy This report is based upon the topic bureaucracy being compared to the course textbook. This book breaks down what is a bureaucracy, the federal bureaucracy, becoming a bureaucrat, the bureaucracy and policymaking, and also reforming the bureaucracy. A bureaucracy is a way of administratively organizing large numbers of people who need to work together. As the textbook goes more in depth defining bureaucracy as a form of organization that operates through impersonal, uniform rules and procedures. Also, stating that bureaucracy actually at one time in history meant fast, effective, and rational administration. Organizations in the public and private sector, including universities and governments, rely on bureaucracies to function. The term bureaucracy literally means “rule by desks or offices,” a definition that highlights the often impersonal character of bureaucracies. Even though bureaucracies sometimes seem inefficient or wasteful, setting up a bureaucracy helps ensure that thousands of people work together in compatible ways by defining everyone’s roles within a hierarchy. Government bureaucrats perform a wide variety of tasks. We often think of bureaucrats as paper-pushing desk clerks, but bureaucrats fight fires, teach, and monitor how federal candidates raise money, among other activities. The job of a bureaucrat is to implement government policy, to take the laws and decisions made by elected officials and put them into practice. Some bureaucrats implement...
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...Fanning, F. (2007) “many public sector safety professionals from state and federal agencies knew of the hazards as a result of inspections, union complaints and letters to state officials” (www.usmra.com/repository/best-of-the-best_newsletter_article). At the time Scanlan, the inspector of the district concluded on the numerous hazards surrounding the mine. Scanlan reported those findings of a possible explosion to other professionals but all failed to follow safety procedures and allowed the men to continue with the job. Instead of listening to Robert Medill the director of the Illinois Department of Mines and Minerals, Scanlan should have directly reported his findings to the Governor of Illinois, the U.S. Bureau of Mines, and the State Mine Board to ensure safety measures and further investigations were established (www.usmra.com/repository/best-of-the-best_newsletter_article). Also, Scanlan had the power to shut down the mining operation but chose to be bullied by Robert Medill. All inspectors and professionals handling the case were aware of coal dust buildup and the necessity to clean it to prevent any explosions (www.usmra.com/repository/best-of-the-best_newsletter_article). II. Analyze and discuss Scanlan’s motivation toward the Constitution (the law), bureaucracy (as a public administrator responsible to the public), and obligation. Scanlan’s motivation toward the Constitution, bureaucracy, and obligation were all correlated. It seems as though he was concerned about...
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...Max Weber’s Bureaucracy Written by Dr. Wasim Al-Habil College of Commerce The Islamic University of Gaza Beginning with Max Weber, bureaucracies have been regarded as mechanisms that rationalize authority and decision-making in society. Yet subsequent theorists have questioned the rationality of bureaucracies. Which features of modern-day public bureaucracies are rational? Which are not? Buttress your argument with citations from organization and/or public administration theories. Introduction: Max Weber’s work about bureaucracy, translated into English in 1946, was one of the major contributions that has influenced the literature of public administration. However, Van Riper (1997) argues that the work of Weber on bureaucracy has no influence on American PA until the 1950’s. The word bureaucracy is derived from two words; “bureau” and “Kratos.” While the word “bureau” refers to the office the Greek suffix “kratia or kratos” means power or rule. Thus we use the word “bureaucracy” to refer to the power of the office (Hummel, 1998, 307). “Bureaucracy” is rule conducted from a desk or office, i.e. by the preparation and dispatch of written documents and electronic ones. Bureaucracy is borrowed by the field of public administration (PA) from the field of sociology. It was borrowed by PA in much a similar way that practices of business were borrowed from the field of business administration and economics. Weber (1946) presents bureaucracy as both a scientific...
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...Bureaucracy is derived from the word bureau, used from the early eighteenth century in Western Europe to refer not only to a writing desk, but to an office, or a workplace, where officials worked. The original French meaning of the word bureau was the baize used to cover desks. The Greek suffix kratia or kratos means "power" or "rule." Bureaucracy thus basically means office power or office rule, the rule of the officialdom. The term bureaucracy came into use shortly before the French Revolution of 1789, and from there spread rapidly to other countries. Webbers characteristics of bureaucracy 1. A formal hierarchical structure Each level controls the level below and is controlled by the level above. A formal hierarchy is the basis of central planning and centralized decision making. 2. Management by rules Controlling by rules allows decisions made at high levels to be executed consistently by all lower levels. 3. Organization by functional specialty Work is to be done by specialists, and people are organized into units based on the type of work they do or skills they have. 4. An "up-focused" or "in-focused" mission If the mission is described as "up-focused," then the organization's purpose is to serve the stockholders, the board, or whatever agency empowered it. If the mission is to serve the organization itself, and those within it, e.g., to produce high profits, to gain market share, or to produce a cash stream, then the mission is described as "in-focused." 5. Purposely...
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...Lawmakers are Missing the Mark The American people, in general have most of their pressing problems go largely unaddressed, whether it is perceived as such or is fact, the American people have lost faith in their lawmakers. These problems continue to go unaddressed for a multitude of reasons, including the ambiguity of the policy values, the decentralization of the U.S. Congress and federal bureaucratic agencies, the influence of special interest groups, as well as the lack of governmental participation by the public. These reasons alone are not the reason that problems go unaddressed, but compounded together makes it very difficult for lawmakers to make decisions regarding policy and for the general public to believe that lawmakers have the needs of their constituents in mind when creating policy. Lawmakers have difficulty when dealing with issues that are ambiguous in their policy values. Some of the issues presented to lawmakers have meanings that vary and can be perceived as not in the best interest of their constituents. One example of a recent issue in policy was the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, signed into law by President Obama on December 31, 2011. This is not a new act, just the annual updated act authorizing military spending for national security programs and military personnel. Following the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, President Bush expanded the act to include counter-terrorism efforts. This was highly supported...
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...Discussion 1: Proposed who you believe was responsible for the violent deaths of 111 miners in Centralia, Illinois, justify your choice and suggest ways by which the disaster could have been prevented. ~ After reading several articles of the disaster; there could of been several things that could of happen to prevent the violent deaths of 111 miners. The Mining Company; the Government and over all Leadership for not protecting the safety and dangerous conditions of these Miner workers. The Miners had concerns and voice out, pleading for safe working conditions. My belief that all agencies are responsible for this accident (Local, State, and Federal). If the agencies/management took the extra step to study the past history they could of prevented this tragic event. Plans and policy could have been put in place. Safety should have been considered first and for most. From my reading these mining accident had been going on for years and nothing had been done. The writing was on the wall, waiting for it to happen, and it did. Analyze what the case says about the definition, role and function of public administration in modern society. ~ Modern definitions of public administration have returned to the traditional view, including attention to administrative officials in all branches of government and even focusing on those in nonprofit organizations. From the case definition; the case had none of things in place for the protection of these men. The United Mine worker of...
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...Review of “A New Vision for Public Administration” Charles T. Goodsell Public Administration Review, 66.4, July/August 2006: 623:635 Theme The theme of the article by Goodsell is illustrating “how public administration in the United States can be seen on its own terms, and not those of others” (p. 634). This article argue that the professors and practitioners of the field have inadvertently allowed it to be observed and interpreted from standpoints imposed by others who are external to its institutions and subject matter (p. 623). These include elected officials and politicians and a variety of critics supporting programs for improvement. The representations of the field expected by these outside viewers have been indiscreetly acknowledged within public administration, leaving the field disposed for influence as a tool for purposes other than its own. This situation has made it difficult for the field's leaders to formulate a separate intellectual vision for public administration that is consonant with their appropriate goals and concerns (p.623). Topic The topic under consideration is to contend that it is time for the field to advance, in the sense that it must express, at least to itself, a vision that apprehends its understanding of public administration's contented involvement to a democratic society. The article also present that the vision is no more “true” in an objective sense than the visions of others. The subject of investigation are the viewpoints...
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...and concerns, but it is influenced by government and nonprofit organizations. Under the government and officials, the public policy is made; the nonprofit organizations advocate the policy making process. The three U.S. government branches, legislative, executive, and judicial, need to be involve and check the new policy before it is applied. The legislative are members of congress such as committee and subcommittee chairs; the bureaucracy players are mainly career bureaucrats such as agency heads and seniors; the interest groups will be the experts, such as powerful leaders in health, welfare, education and more. There are two traditional models, iron triangles and issue networks, which define how the government leaderships work together. The connection among the politicians, officials, and interest group helps how the public receives the supports. Mainly, interest groups have too much control and power on iron triangle. Starting from the electoral support from the interest group towards congress, funding and political support delivered to the bureaucracy, which provides facilities and special favors. On the other hand, the issue network uses much broader networking within the agencies, congressional committees, and interest groups. The model allows experts such as interest groups, members of congress, social media, professors in policy, foundations, public opinion and more, to share knowledge in various areas. In this model, the interest groups are less interested in politics...
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...Bureaucracy Observed (An Experience-Based Analysis) (An Experience-Based Analysis) Joshua A Ward University of Maryland University College Author’s Note This paper was prepared for MGMT 610 9045 Organizational Theory (2615), taught by Professor Matthews. According to German sociologist, political economist, administrative scholar, and historian Max Weber, bureaucracy is “a particular type of administrative structure developed through rational legal authority.” (Swanson, 2013) His six major principles have formed the foundation for understanding bureaucracy since their inception. They include the idea that a bureaucracy must consist of a formal hierarchical structure, i.e., each level controls the level below it and is controlled by the level above. Organization by functional specialty is key, work must be performed by specialists, and those specialists are organized into units based on the type of work they do of the skills they possess. Bureaucracy is purposely impersonal, with the major idea being that all employees and customers must and should be treated equally, with no organizational decision influenced or based on individual differences. Also, employment in a bureaucracy should be based primarily on technical qualifications, with the most consideration given to a potential employee who is most qualified, once again, without any consideration given to personal preference. From personal experience, the United States military is a prime example of bureaucracy...
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...omKennesaw State University DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects 4-1-2013 A Case Study of Corruption and Public Accountability in Nigeria Chinelo Okekeocha Kennesaw State University Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/etd Part of the Public Administration Commons Recommended Citation Okekeocha, Chinelo, "A Case Study of Corruption and Public Accountability in Nigeria" (2013). Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects. Paper 566. This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University. A Case Study of Corruption and Public Accountability in Nigeria Chinelo Okekeocha A Practicum Paper Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Master of Public Administration Kennesaw State University May 2013 A Case Study of Corruption and Public Accountability in Nigeria Executive Summary In 2011, Nigeria was ranked 143th out of 182 countries surveyed by the Transparency International in its corruption perception index indicating the level of corruption in the country as compared to other countries. Although this came as an improvement from the previous years, it did not result from an improved system of governance, rather it was due to an increase...
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