Is Excessive Bureaucratic Power Inevitable? Analytical Essay by AmieRose
An in-depth analysis of bureaucracies to determine whether excessive bureaucratic power is inevitable.
# 146650
| 2,957 words
| 11 sources
| APA
| 2010
| 
Published
on Jan 10, 2011
in
Political Science
(Government Agencies)
, Political Science
(Lobbyists and Pressure Groups)
, Public Administration
(General)
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Description:
The paper begins by discussing three trends and two factors that allow the bureaucracy to gain a powerful role within the political system. The paper reviews Max Weber's attempts to create a model for the bureaucracy that limits power, but highlights how bureaucratic power is inevitable. The paper explains the lack of desire on the part of the bureaucracy to regulate itself, the control of bureaucratic power by market forces and market controls, the force of public opinion and pressure group lobbying, and political methods of control. The paper reaches the conclusion that the bureaucracy is an inevitable institution, which instead of being on the decrease is on the increase. The paper contends that governments need to address this ever-increasing problem through long-term, successfully enforceable mechanisms.
From the Paper:
"The first trend that allows the bureaucracy to become powerful can be seen to be that of the government's dependency on the bureaucracy. Since the growth of the welfare state, the government has relied on the bureaucracy due to its practical resources such as the ability to regulate policy. The bureaucracy has therefore steadily grown to deal with the increasing workload, which the ever-developing welfare state brings. The functional demand that the bureaucracy provides therefore illustrates one of the possible reasons for the increasing power of the bureaucracy. A second reason is that of the highly specialised nature of the bureaucracy. The bureaucracy provides the knowledge in which the politicians need in order to create policy. Politicians lack the expertise, the information and the time to decide all the various detailed policy issues; the bureaucrat is thus allocated these tasks."Sample of Sources Used:
- Aberbach, J at al (1981) 'Bureaucrats and Politicians in Western Democracies' Havard University Press
- Constas, H 'Max Weber's Two Conceptions of Bureaucracy' The American Journal of Sociology Vol.63 Number 4 (January 1958) p.g 400- 409
- Hague, R and Harrop, M (2007) 'Comparative Government and Politics: An Introduction Seventh Edition' Palgrave MacMillian
- Heeger, G 'Bureaucracy, Political Parties, and Political Development' World Politics Vol.25 Number 4 (July 1973) p.g 600 - 607
- Peters, G 'The Problem of Bureaucratic Government' The Journal of Politics Vol.43 number 1 (February 1981) p.g 56 - 82
Cite this Analytical Essay:
APA Format
Is Excessive Bureaucratic Power Inevitable? (2011, January 10)
Retrieved December 07, 2023, from https://www.academon.com/analytical-essay/is-excessive-bureaucratic-power-inevitable-146650/
MLA Format
"Is Excessive Bureaucratic Power Inevitable?" 10 January 2011.
Web. 07 December. 2023. <https://www.academon.com/analytical-essay/is-excessive-bureaucratic-power-inevitable-146650/>