1 / 11

Aim: What are the characteristics of the federal bureaucracy?

Learn about the characteristics of the federal bureaucracy and its criticisms, including red tape, conflict, duplication, unchecked growth, waste, and lack of accountability. Explore how people perceive bureaucracy through the lyrics of the song "Bureaucrat's Song" from Futurama.

lorenl
Download Presentation

Aim: What are the characteristics of the federal bureaucracy?

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Aim: What are the characteristics of the federal bureaucracy?

  2. Large, complex organization of appointed, not elected, officials. • “bureau” – French for small desks, referring to the king’s traveling business men who set up small desks in town squares • Bureaucracy = “government of small desks”

  3. Max Weber • Weber lamented the dehumanizing effects of bureaucracy • He also believed it had rational advantages

  4. Characteristics • Hierarchical authority structure – chain of command • Task specialization – individuals have unique jobs, division of labor • Extensive rules – an efficient bureaucracy should have clear policies for the organization to follow • Clear goals – an efficient bureaucracy should have a clearly defined mission

  5. Merit principle – hiring and promotion based on qualities, no jobs for favors • Impersonality – performance judged on productivity

  6. http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7356343n • http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/03/01/01greenwire-gao-audit-hits-agencies-for-uncoordinated-ineff-2671.html • http://www.nbcnews.com/video/cnbc/36131620#36131620

  7. Criticism of Bureaucracy – pathologies • “Red tape” – maze of gov rules, regulations, and paperwork that makes access to government overwhelming to citizens • Conflict –agencies that often work toward opposite goals • Duplication– agencies appear to do the same thing • Unchecked growth (Imperialism) – agencies expand unnecessarily at high costs • Waste– spending more than necessary • Lack of accountability – difficulty in firing an incompetent bureaucrat

  8. http://www.cc.com/video-clips/fqqyi0/futurama-bureaucrat-s-songhttp://www.cc.com/video-clips/fqqyi0/futurama-bureaucrat-s-song • How do people perceive bureaucracy based upon the lyrics to this song?

More Related