Government Bureaucrat And Are They Essential To Good Governance In America

Improved Essays
Q1: What is a government bureaucrat and are they essential to good governance in America?
In simple terms, a government bureaucrat is someone who works in any kind of administrative capacity inside our government. Government bureaucrat preform a wide range of different task like teaching, monitoring federal candidates, and most often desk work. Most importantly their job is to implement government policy by either writing rules and regulations or administering policies directly to people. There is no specific number for how many bureaucrats we have in our government, but estimates but it at over 2,000 of federal government agencies, commissions, and departments. This includes the fifteen cabinet departments, government corporations, independent agencies, and regulatory commissions. Can one imagine the
…show more content…
Even though, many people say that the bureaucracy doesn’t work and it’s just a bunch of paper pushers it is actually these almost 3 million people who keep our government running. Without all of these different departments, agencies, and commissions it would be impossible to run the federal government. These groups are overseen by Congress and the President but are ultimately the ones who get all of the policies written to actually be placed in affect across the country. The bureaucracy because of its great size and complexity it can be hard to administrate and is open to constant streamlining. However, this does not mean that that bureaucrats as a whole are ineffective and unnecessary. First, because it is the bureaucrats that put public policy into action they have a large impact on policymaking as a whole. Second, without the interagency cooperation from all of the different bureaucrats in the government it would be

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The federal bureaucracy is said to be the fourth branch of the government. This organization is just as important as the legislative, executive, and judicial branches are. The three named branches of government are known for making laws, carrying out the laws, and evaluating the laws, but not much credit is given to the federal bureaucracy. The federal bureaucracy can be called the fourth government branch because this is the organization of individuals who implement public policies and budgets, tax revenue, protection to the environment and economy, and manage and include millions of federal, state, and local government employees. This is a huge responsibility put on an organization that involves laws and how they are carried out and evaluated.…

    • 337 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A bureaucracy is a system of government where the decisions are made by state officials…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Interest groups have the ability to directly influence the public as well as provide the other iron triangle group with insight on certain policy ideas(C. 2015, December 19). The bureaucracy is a group of non-elected officials that hold significant influence in the iron triangle in the way they are able to conduct businesses. Congressional committees are able to pass laws to improve issues in society (2017, April 30). All together these three groups are able to shape and affect how the administrative system in…

    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    They work long hours In my opinion, bureaucracies are those behind the scene administration groups responsible for sifting through mountains of paperwork, with mundane work in tiny offices without windows, that work long…

    • 224 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    As citizens it can be hard to feel that we can hold these bureaucrats politically accountable for their actions. It is common place to believe that our government is inefficient and in need for reform. This statement is not far from the truth since many bureaucrats become complacent and inflexible within their positions. Citizens are typically left waiting in line winding through a maze of paperwork and rules and regulations. Throughout the 20th century the Office of the President and Congress have implemented plans to reorganize and structure the federal government through downsizing and reengineering.…

    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Bureaucracy is when important decisions are made by state officials and not by elected representatives. There are actually five different parts of the Federal Bureaucracy; Cabinet departments, Independent executive agencies, Independent regulatory agencies, Government Corporations, and Presidential Commissions. Each of these are responsible for doing a different job. The Cabinet departments have fifteen different parts to it and is responsible for helping to president on anything that relates to responsibilities of the members respective office. Independent executive agencies deal with things that have gone too out of hand for the regular legislation to take care of.…

    • 188 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Bureaucracy In The 1800s

    • 356 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The federal bureaucracy was rather small in the 1800s employing around three thousand employees that worked for the government (Patterson, 2013, p. 333). However, towards the end of the 1800s the bureaucracy began to grow tremendously in size due to the growth in the economy (Patterson, 2013, p. 333). Also, due to the demands that the economy required, this would generate an even greater demand on the government (Patterson, 2013, p. 333). Nonetheless, in 1889 the Department of Agriculture was created to assist the farmers whom at the time was demanding that they receive some type of assistant to help with their farms (Patterson, 2013, p. 333).…

    • 356 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Bureaucracy is filled with people who cannot be fired from their job positions even though they need to be due to incompetence and so forth. There are unfair promotions of certain employees in the organization because managers do not want to deal with these certain employees. Employees in the organization embrace the practice of incompetency…

    • 192 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Street-Level Bureaucracy: The Critical Role of Street-Level Bureaucrats by Michael Lipsky was written to explain the importance of the role of public service workers when delivering government services to the public. The involvement of public administration in difficulties that are currently affecting the undeserved and have made the government to take responsibilities on public safety, health and security. Lipsky believed that government workers play a significant role in our society by making discretionary judgements that evaluate the welfare of individuals. The conflict that street-level bureaucrats possess is on the state influence and control public services. The constant demands that bureaucrats make are important decisions that will…

    • 860 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Nevada Wetlands Case Study

    • 1164 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Bureaucracies often have multiple, sometimes conflicting missions, few face direct competition or experience the consequences of poor or mediocre performance (O’Connell and Straub, 2007). To solve this problem, DOI must use proper management practices…

    • 1164 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When one thinks of government, the immediate thought is Washington, DC, the president and Congress. However, what we fail to acknowledge is that we, as citizens, are also the government. No, we are not creating laws or meeting with fellow world leaders, but we are the people that the government needs in order to operate correctly. Government is a body that controls and enforces laws that it's people must abide by for their own protection.…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Government has been a necessity for man for as long as recorded history and this is because mankind cannot effectively regulate themselves . In the words of James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary” (Alexander, Madison 51). That is not the case in today's society, nor will it ever be under those circumstances. Since government is vital to the success of the country as a whole, what way, size, or fashion would be the most efficient and beneficial to the people?…

    • 1305 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The field of public administration is one in which while still developing, is asserting its place within the disciple. The study of public administration is constantly changing and with that change comes new theories and ideas. While Frederickson et al argue that a theory of governance is most promising for the field, I would place my eggs in the basket of theories of political control of bureaucracy. The more we study bureaucracy, the more I believe the connection between politics and administration will be undeniable.…

    • 958 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Peters (2013) explained that bureaucrats play an important role in interpreting legislation and make important decisions while applying laws and regulations to individual cases. Rourke (1991) mentioned that the role of divided government has an impact on the role bureaucrats play in national policymaking. Rourke (1991) stated, “both the president and the Congress have looked elsewhere for advice on policy issues and restricted the discretion allowed to bureaucrats in making the everyday decisions necessary to put policies into effect.” He also noted that bureaucrats role in the development of national policies has diminished over time due to the hiring of presidential appointee and public-interest…

    • 730 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Bureaucracies are very large organizations and completing tasks can be a strenuous process. Rigidity and inertia of procedures, makes decision-making slow or even impossible delaying change, evolution, and adaptation of old procedures to…

    • 713 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays