chapter 10 - bureaucracies Flashcards
bureaucracy + public administration
bureaucracy
= rule by officials / describes the people and organizations who form the public administration
- aka civil service
*growing role gov. (e.g. welfare state) -> growing size/role bureaucracy (+more and more outsourcing)
public administration
= implementation of gov. policy
roles of bureaucracies
advice
providing advice and info to pol. leaders as part of the policy process
implementation
overseeing - and ensuring consistency in - the implementation of laws, regulations and policies
red tape
classic image of bureaucracies tied up in procedure and rules,
deriving from the habit in some C16 European countries of binding administrative documents in red tape
2 key themes in understanding modern democracy
- outsourcing (employing private contractors for things that used to be handled by public bureaucracy) = good (competition -> efficiency, lower costs), and bad elements (reduce in quality services + less experience/knowledge)
- use of the internet
Worldwide Governance Indicators
- WB
- gives picture of quality of bureaucracies
- 6 indicators, incl. government effectiveness
- EU usually scores high, Greece is an outlier: slow, inefficient, corrupt bureaucracy
- usually weak democracy = weak bureaucracy
*outlier is Singapore: flawed demo., but high effectiveness
whistleblowing
decision by someone to go public with a problem of wrongdoing in a gov. department (or any large organization), including fraud, corruption or inefficiency
ombudsman
a public official appointed by a legislature to investigate allegations of maladministration in the public sector
= tool to keep bureaucracy accountable (distinctively European)
*Weber was afraid of bureaucracy power and influence, he warned of the difficulties keeping bureaucrats accountable
meritocracy
system in which career advancement and leadership is based on talent, qualifications and achievement
e.g. ancient China (based on Confucius)
Max Weber’s model of bureaucracy
= first systematic study of modern bureaucracy
was mostly influential in continental Europe, less so in North America (more pragmatic dev. civil services, e.g. US found idea of proff. civil service elitist and undemocratic = populist theory of bureaucracy)
- Work: carefully defined division of tasks
- decisions: reached by methodically applying rules to particular cases
- recruitment: based on proven, or at least potential, competence
- careers: competent officials can expect secure jobs and salaries, and promotion based on seniority and merit
- structure: a disciplined hierarchy in which lower officials are subject to the authority of their superiors
spoils system
patronage-based arrangement in which elected politicians distribute gov. jobs to those with the foresight to support the winning candidate
e.g. in US until at least 1883
new public management
NPM
introduced in the 1980s by Reagan administration + Thatcher gov.
approach to bureaucracy that emerged in the 1980s, based on the idea that market-oriented principles would make it more efficient
e.g. employed in New Zealand
interest in NPM now past its peak, but still has effects
e-government / digital era gov.
= the use of information and communication technology to provide public services
- benefit = easier for citizens to access gov. departments and public info. + reduce gov. costs
- costs = risk of cyberattacks on gov. + opportunity for political misuse of personal info citizens + no equal access to the internet
3 main kinds/levels of bureaucracies
- departments/ministries
- divisions (operating units of departments/ministries)
- non-departmental public bodies
departments/ministry
- 2 elements that influence the degree of political control of a department
= administrative unit over which a secretary or minister exercises direct management control. usually structured as a formal hierarchy, often established by statute, and usually having cabinet-like status
= centrepiece of bureaucracies
- usually 12-24 departments
- departments are periodically renamed, split or combined according to changing circumstances (e.g. Britain had a department overseeing Brexit)
- in theory: secretaries direct and career bureaucrats execute (but practice is more complicated)
elements that influence the degree of political control of a department =
- greater the number of appointments made by a secretary within a department, the easier it is to impose a specific direction
- direction can be strengthened by providing secretaries with political advisory staff (can act as eyes and ears)
divisions
= operating unit of a department, responsible to the secretary but often with considerable independence
*also known as sections or bureaus or as departments (in countries were the larger unit is a ministry)
- the section in which the work gets done (e.g. division of border force, division of federal police, division of aviation and maritime security division = all part of department of Home Affairs Australia)
non-departmental public bodies
= operates at one or more more removes from the gov., providing management flexibility and political independence
- formal relationship of at least semi-independence
- in democracies they are growing in numbers
- created and funded by gov., but free from day-to-day secretarial or ministerial control
- don’t report to the presidents/executive and can only be dismissed for specific reasons
incl.
- state-owned entities (e.g. health care services, postal services)
- agencies contracted to deliver gov. services
- agencies providing advice to gov.
- agencies charged with regulating an aspect of social life in which the public interest is at stake
e.g. regulatory agency: oversees impl. gov. regulation
*US most established system of these agencies
recruitment of bureaucracies
unified vs departmental recruitment
unified = recruitment to civil service as a whole (nota specific job) + administrative work is seen as requiring intelligence and education rather than technical knowledge
- e.g. Britain
- specialist knowledge is valuable, but a good administrator is expected to serve in a variety of departments and is considered more rounded for doing so
- variation: recruit to a corps of civil servants rather than specific job in a ministry (e.g. France)
- (recruitment in a type of elite)
departmental = recruiting people with technical backgrounds to a specific department or job
- e.g. NL, New Zealand, US
- notion of recruiting to an elite, unified civil service, or corps is weak or non-existent
affirmative action
= policies designed to overcome the legacy of past discrimination by emphasizing the recruitment of women, ethnic minorities, and other groups under-represented in the bureaucracy
countries work to address the dominating position in bureaucracies of men from middle-or upper-class families with a background in public affairs
goal to make bureaucracy more representative
*women now make up larger % of gov. workforce, but not in higher managerial levels
bureaucratic authoritarianism
regimes in which bureaucrats impose economic stability under the protection of a military gov.
!govs can be encouraged by bureaucrats to use what might seem as quasi-authoritarian means to push a country to a take-off level of eco. dev. generating further growth that might then induce pressure to democratize
e.g. in China (which does suffer from crony capitalism, leading to help Xi Jinping start anti-corruption drive imprisoning multiple bureaucrats)
developmental state
+
predatory state
developmental = a state that intervenes heavily in the economy through regulation and planning, relying on an efficient bureaucracy = positive role bureaucracy in autocracies
- Guillermo O’Donnell
predatory = one in which the state works in the private interests of dominant groups such as bureaucrats, the military or political leaders = negative role bureaucracy in autocracies
- e.g. Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Niger, Somalia, Sudan
- Kalu et al.: main source of this is remaining colonial structures
- incentives corruption extra high when there are profitable resources (e.g. in Equatorial Guina)
crony capitalism
economic dev. based on a close relationship between gov. officials and business leaders, reflected in special tax breaks and favouritism in issuing contracts, permits or grants
(administrative capacity)
ability of a bureaucracy to address social problems though effective management of public policy
bureaucracies in authoritarian systems
!!similarities with bur. in demo., but more use for patronage and control -> more corruption and inefficiency in authoritarian bureaucracies
- same roles: advisement and implementation of policies
*advise on how to exert control and benefit the gov. elite + implementation in interest of elite - often little bureaucratic effectiveness due to e.g. war, civil strife, ethnic division, natural disasters
- predatory states / corruption / bureaucrat ties and rewards with autocrat leader -> bureaucracies politicized, bloated, inefficient
difficult to make distinctions between place of bureaucracies in dem. and authoritarian regimes:
- both rely on bureaucracies
*e.g. Nigeria: switches of military govs., but they kept bureaucracies intact (combined with corruption) - working in administration can sometimes be as much of a path for recruitment to the political elite as experience in elective politics (e.g. Russia, where bureaucracy is powerful and centralized, not representing the whole of Russia’s population)
!bureaucracies also positive role: bureaucratic authoritarianism + developmental states = focus on eco. (sometimes leads towards democratization)
*collusive corruption in bureaucracies (e.g. Xi Jinping jailing lots of bureaucrats) is dangerous: hard to detect, greater financial rewards for perpetrators, undermines local gov. ability to provide public goods + corruption networks can seize control over jurisdictions and turn them into local maffia states
d
