The Case for Bureaucracy: A Public Administration Polemic

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Chatham House Publishers, 1985 - Political Science - 212 pages
This volume argues that American public servants and administrative institutions are among the best in the world. Contrary to popular stereotypes, they are neither sources of great waste nor a threat to liberty, but social assets of critical value to a functioning democracy. In presenting his case, the author touches on core aspects of public administration while drawing on recent events to bring case material and empirical evidence up to date. This text provides data on public perceptions of bureaucracy, information on the delegation of policy implementation to contractors and nonprofits, statistics regarding quality-of-life improvements in American society, profiles of real bureaucrats -- and citizen interaction with them -- intended to give bureaucracy a human face, material on bureaucratic contributions to the political system that go beyond implementing policy, an analysis of current reform proposals focused on market competition and business management practices, and the author's proposals for ways to improve bureaucracy.

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Contents

BUREAUCRACY DESPISED AND DISPARAGED
1
THE WATER GLASS VIEWED DIFFERENTLY
19
SOME SUSPICIONS SOME SURPRISES
38
Copyright

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About the author (1985)

Charles T. Goodsell is professor emeritus at the Center for Public Administration and Policy at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

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