The Values Of Bureaucracy

"This book describes and analyzes the impact of contemporary programmes of organizational reform in the public and private sectors on bureaucratic structures. It aims to show how and why bureaucratic forms of organization have a vital role in ordering our political, social, economic, and cultural existence"--Provided by publisher.

The end of bureaucracy has been anticipated many times throughout the history of management science, as well as in modern social and political theory. This book sets out to show why bureaucracy persists and what values it embodies and upholds. Thus the book seeks to show how and why bureaucratic forms of organization have played, and continue to play, a vital and productive role in ordering our political, social, economic, and cultural existence. The book also describes and analyzes the impact of contemporary programmes of organizational reform in the public and private sectors on bureaucratic structures, and seeks to highlight some of the costs of attempts to de-bureaucratize organizational life in business, government, and the third sector. Overall the volume highlights the values of bureaucracy and at the same time indicates why distinctively bureaucratic forms of organization should continue to be valued.

A playbook for mastering the art of bureaucracy from thought-leader Mark Schwartz.

Given the influence of public bureaucracies in policymaking and implementation, Steven J. Balla and William T. Gormley assess their performance using four key perspectives—bounded rationality, principal-agent theory, interest group mobilization, and network theory—to help students develop an analytic framework for evaluating bureaucratic accountability. The new Fourth Edition provides a thorough review of bureaucracy during the Obama and Trump administrations, as well as new attention to state and local level examples and the role of bureaucratic values.

Publisher description

In the current United States (U.S.) context, we are facing a constitutional crisis with frequent government shutdowns and new debates surrounding immigration, climate change, budgeting practices, and the balance of power. With competing interests, unclear policy, and inconsistent leadership directives, the question becomes: How do contemporary bureaucrats make sense of this ethically turbulent environment? This collection provides a lens for viewing administrative decision-making and behavior from a constitutional basis, as contemporary bureaucrats navigate uncharted territory. Ethics for Contemporary Bureaucrats is organized around three constitutional values: freedom, property, and social equity. These themes are based on emerging trends in public administration and balanced with traditional ethical models. Each chapter provides an overview of a contemporary ethical issue, identifies key actors, institutions, legal and legislative policy, and offers normative and practical recommendations to address the challenges the issue poses. Rooted in a respected and time-tested intellectual history, this volume speaks to bureaucrats in a modern era of governance. It is ideally suited to educate students, scholars, and public servants on constitutional values and legal precedent as a basis for ethics in the public sector.

Street-Level Bureaucracy is an insightful study of how public service workers, in effect, function as policy decision makers, as they wield their considerable discretion in the day-to-day implementation of public programs.