Chapter 16
Bureaucracy
Public Administration
 The people involved in the implementation of
government policy
 May provide policy ideas to those in power who make
policy decisions but do not directly set policy
themselves
 Often linked to pursuing the public good by
enhancing civil society and social justice
 Government management
A Good Public Administration
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Honest, accurate implementation of policy
Flexibility in dealing with special cases
Flexibility not used arbitrarily
Provide good feedback, expert advice, and wise
inquiry
Are efficient
Bureaucracy
 Administration of a government chiefly through bureaus or
departments staffed with nonelected officials.
Characteristics
 Well-defined division of administrative labor
among persons and offices
 Personnel system (usually based on merit)with
consistent patterns of recruitment and stable
linear careers,
Bureacracy
Characteristics (continued)
 a hierarchy among offices, such that the authority and
status are differentially distributed among employees
(hierarchical command structure)
 formal and informal networks that connect people to
one another through flows of information and
patterns of cooperation
Potential Problems of Bureaucracy
 Bureaucrats tend to keep advice to themselves unless
asked
 Tend toward standardization instead of
individualization
 Evaluating job performance can be difficult
 Direct political pressure