Federal Bureaucracy

1
Federal Bureaucracy

• Lecture 6

2

• ".....leading to a "polar night of icy
  darkness", in which increasing
• rationalization of human life traps individuals
  in an "iron cage" of rule-
• based, rational control
• Max Weber

3
What is Bureaucracy?

• Standardized Procedures
• SOP Quality Control
• Division of Labor
• Specialization Productivity Efficiency Checks
  and Balances
• Hierarchy
• Authority Control
• Impersonal Relationships
• Keep personal and business separate

4
Examples of Bureaucracy

• School Administration
• Private Businesses
• Churches
• Hospitals
• Government Agencies
• Military
• Labor Unions

5
Federal Bureaucracy

• Fifteen Cabinet level departments
• More than 60 agencies with in excess of 2000
  subunits.
• Close to 3 million civilian employees
• Department of Defense U.S. Postal Service
  largest employers
• Government Corporations
• Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
• Independent Agencies
• CIA NASA EPA
• Independent Commissions
• National Labor Relations Board Securities and
  Exchange Commission

6
Criticism of Federal Bureaucracy

• TOO BIG
• SLOW
• INEFFICIENT
• LITTLE ACCOUNTABILITY