Bureaucracy In The United States

739 Words3 Pages

Meier (1997) argues that United States (US) facing serious problem in bureaucracy and electoral institutions. It is popular for politicians to use anti-bureaucracy ideas in elections. According to author in US bureaucracy is mainly connected with the problem of governance. However, it is possible to control bureaucracy by balancing the budget, eliminating poverty, reinvigorating the education system (p.193). In my opinion, bureaucracy itself is a meaning of power, domination of chancellery. Besides, bureaucracy is mainly identified as a system of administration isolated from the peoples and it defends the interests of ruling class. Then, by balancing the budget, eliminating poverty, reinvigorating the education system it is unlikely, that …show more content…

He insists that bureaucracies are regular, goal-oriented systems. These components of bureaucracy may help to understand the relationship between electoral system and bureaucracy. It is correctly observed in the text, that the open system element of bureaucracy has consequences for democracy, however policy-making legitimacy of democracy has no influence to bureaucracy, which is seen not only in United States, but mostly in any country. Nonetheless, democracy tries to find methods to influence bureaucracy, but it is leaving much to be desired.
Author believes that, if there is a 1) determined by electoral institutions clear goals, and if bureaucracy is 2) funded, and 3) has an autonomy, it can perform best. Of course if there is a such a condition for bureaucracy, it can perform better, however, it is difficult to create this conditions for bureaucracy on practice. There exists many reasons, which may prevent to provide such a condition for bureaucracy to perform best: - culture, tradition, power, corruption. Also these preventing factors are directly connected with human …show more content…

The main problem of governance as he think is that now on shoulders of bureaucracy is not only to handle responsiveness to electoral system, but be hyperresponsive. Author has not any solution to the problem of governance, however, brings a few points of reforms to begin a “fundamental political change”. To count some of them it is a redesigning of political system in US to resolve instead of intensifying conflicts; “Lengthen the time frame for public policy making”; to change neoclassical’s economics public philosophy; reorienting education system to train policymakers (Meier, 1997. p. 197). Proposed points to make a “fundamental change” are good, if there will be a possibility to bring all of them to