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Bureaucracy Goodsell Analysis

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Throughout the book, Goodsell makes very valid arguments for the soundness of bureaucracy. I particularly enjoyed reading about how Goodsell discusses the views of bureaucrats themselves. His analysis found that bureaucrats enjoy their jobs. I thought this was a good personal touch for bureaucrats. To read they are passionate about their careers is very refreshing. On the flip side, it probably doesn’t do much for those who feel oppressed by bureaucrats to know that they enjoy their job. In chapter six, Goodsell discusses misconceptions. He sections the issue of bureaucratic expansion into four separate sections- size, growth, political power, and political contributions. There are 21 million employees who make up the American federal agencies and one of …show more content…

There are six elements Goodsell describes about how bureaucracy contributes to politics. They can generate funds for government, sustain and believe in the various agencies’ missions, contribute to the election process that encourages democracy, have federal agents who have the ability to influence policy making, organizations that foster improvements in social status, and promote involvement in community organizations. Without bureaucracy, the institutions and ways of life we have come to expect from our government would be diminished and ultimately, hinder Americans. In the final chapter, Goodsell describes how effective government in America is in supporting the democratic way of life. Issues against bureaucracy like waste and incompetence, will unfortunately always be present but are usually less common than we think. Bureaucrats are held to insane standards that they cannot live up to. But, everything can be improved upon, even bureaucracy. Instead of reform, there are other continues models we can follow. Three adaptable ways to continue improvement are demonstration projects, organizational report cards, and external

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In the early years, after winning independence from Great Britain, the American colonies set up their government in accordance with their first constitution, the Articles of Confederation. This means that the majority of the power laid in the hands of the states and Congress, “the only institution of national authority” (Brinkley 151) at that time, had very little power. This distribution of authority was the manifestation of the American’s fear of a strong, central government. However, as time passed, more and more people came to agree that the national government was too weak and needed to be strengthened.

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The most important thing that the bureaucracy does is implement policy. Congress and the President make the policies and laws, but they have someone else (the bureaucracy) to implement them. However, they also make policy by rule-making (process of defining rules or standards that apply uniformly to classes of individuals, events, and activities). Also, according to Jillson (2016), "Congress passes laws that authorize government programs, the bureaucracy then writes specific rules that define how the program will be administered." So, when the bureaucracy makes rules you have to obey them because they have the force of law.

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Public administration, the art of turning big policy ideas into solid results, ranks among the very oldest of intellectual disciplines. As long as people have been documenting history, they have been writing about administration and governance. This can be traced all the way back to the first five books of the Bible; covering the study of organization, rule making, and bureaucratization to ensure that the Israelites walked in God’s ways. Also, Caesar’s commentary on the Gallic wars covers the administrative and political challenges he faced in subduing the Gauls and conquering Britain. Public administration is not only concerned with getting the government to work well, but also in relation to both promoting and limiting the exercise of

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The United States has a democratic government, which means our citizens get to help choose how our country works. The Constitution is setup to include citizens in the law making and voting process and preventing the US from turning into a tryannical government. Three ways we do thi s is by using Federalism, Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances. Federalism is a system our country uses to make sure power doesn’t stay in one area (Doc A). This method gives specific responsibilities to Central Government and each state.

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Morning, My apologies, I am Fort Jackson, SC doing another Army school which greatly delayed my post this week. The federal bureaucracy is not a fourth branch of government, it is an agency that works for the President of the United States and thou they may (like the EPA Environmental Protection Agency) have their own agenda they are not a law making branch. If they do then you would have more agencies and their employees “doing their own thing” like Kim Davis the Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue a marriage licenses to same-sex couples even after the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefeel v. Hodges. They do handle almost every part of your life. It is believed there are probably over 2000 of these federal government agencies,

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The government of the United States is a massive and complex organization. Its purpose is to improve and protect the lives of American citizens, both at home and overseas. Because its functions are so numerous and varied, the government operates on several different levels--national, state, and local. At each of these levels the government makes certain demands on its citizens. But this is only to promote the general welfare of the society as a whole.

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What is the purpose of a Bureaucracy? The main reason for a Bureaucracy is allowing efficiency in the daily functions of the government. In addition, Federal

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The Drug Enforcement Administration is one of the most important enforcement programs in the United States. They can work either in the US or in foreign lands. As illegal substances try to make their way into the country the Drug Enforcement Administration mission and job is to enforce regulations and laws in order to control the amount of drug entering the country. Recently drug cartels begin to increase their production of illegal substances causing a slight increase in drug trafficking as well. The Drug Enforcement Administration must be quick in thinking , quick in action, and never let their guard down.

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“The U.S. version of extreme decentralization not only places us in the minority among nations but also attracts criticism as being too complex, inefficient, and expensive” (Reichel, 2013).

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They really do not care about the public choice but are only motivated by their self-interest. As bureaucracy expands it leads to a worsening of the economy. This is evident in Atlas Shrugged. Wesley Mouch has risen to power by trading favors throughout and backstabbing

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In Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Services, Lipsky defines street-level bureaucrats as the “teachers, police officers and other law enforcement personnel, social workers, judges, public lawyers and other court officers, health workers, and many other public employees who grant access to government programs and provide services within them” (1980, 3). The book provides us with an insight into the everyday life of a street-level bureaucrat and shows their unmistakable role in delivering social services. Lipsky believes policy is best understood when looking at the people at the forefront of the implementation process; those that have to deal with both the government and the public. Overall, I found this book extremely

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Power is an invisible form and has the capacity to control or influence the behaviour of a person. The claim given states that ‘employees are not the bearers of power but they suffer the effects of power’ draws attention to the key aspect of power in the organisations. For this reason, this essay will points toward the Weber’s theory for bureaucracy and how Foucault use the Panopticon as a metaphor to define the concept of power. Despite bearing some complementary perspectives, the differences between Weber and Foucault approaches to concepts of power and domination are pronounced. Weber (1968) defined power as the ability of an individual or group to achieve goals even against the resistance of others (Lukes, 1986).

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Merton concluded that the bureaucracy contains the seeds of its own destruction. This part discusses Max Weber 's bureaucratic model of critical viewpoints. It focuses on four main limitations that have no rational the bureaucracy in terms of an ideal, neglect, and dehumanization of the formal organization and a tense relationship with democracy. In particular, Weber 's bureaucracy does not consider an important role in the informal relationships that exist in any human organization. In addition, many in the areas public administration with the view that the judgment the bureaucracy is a threat to democratic standards and practices that govern and American

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