Query
Do you believe that the federal bureaucracy is at
an appropriate size in terms of costs and number of employees? Why or why not? In
600-800 words
“Plato argued that good people do not need laws to
tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will always find a way around
law. By pretending that procedure will get rid of corruption, we have succeeded
only in humiliating honest people and provided a cover of darkness and
complexity for the bad people. There is a scandal here, but it's not the result
of venal bureaucrats. ― Philip K. Howard, The Death of Common Sense: How Law Is
Suffocating America
My essay
Development of the bureaucracy
At the time of our first
President, George Washington in 1789, the federal government consisted of three
departments: State, Treasury and War. Westward expansion required that new
agencies were created to manage land and settlements. As people expanded, an
expanded Postal Service was needed. The Civil War of 1861-1865 created
thousands of new jobs and departments to handle warfare demands. The Industrial
Revolution’s economic growth then required more bureaucratic agencies to control
the growing economy.
The riotous years between
the civil war and turn of the century were known as the Gilded Age. This “was a
period where greedy, corrupt industrialists, bankers and politicians enjoyed
extraordinary wealth and opulence at the expense of the working class.” According
to History.com. Thus, working class Americans called upon government to
regulate business and industry.
Consequently, independent regulatory commissions
emerged. Railroad industry abuses were monitored by the first agency: Interstate
Commerce Commission. Social movements of the early 20th century wanted
governmental regulation of child labor, food processing/packaging and working conditions
for laboring classes.
The Great Depression of the 1930’s led Americans to
depend on public works programs in the form of relief and recovery. Franklin
Roosevelt enacted a series of programs called the New Deal. These programs included
safeguards on the banking industry, support for elderly, youth and farmers. The
New Deal of 1933-1945 meant larger government. More agencies were needed to
administer these many programs.
World War II in 1941 meant that the bureaucratic
operations of the war effort inflated the need greatly. “The total number of
federal employees increased from a little over half a million in 1933 to an all
time high of more than 3.5 million in 1945. After World War II ended in 1945…[it]
still has remained at levels between about 2.5 and 3 million..” [US
History.org]
Public Works, Farm and
Rural Programs, the Housing Sector and Trade between other countries bolstered bureaucracy
needs even further. The “Second New Deal” of the mid 1930’s saw the dawning and
funding of the Social Security Act. Labor Relations gained important bargaining
power and established working wages. Works Progress Administration heralded
long term relief to the national unemployment issue. Under the WPA, schools, hospitals
and roads were built. Irrigations systems and bridges were built or maintained.
Lastly, the Wealth Tax Act was established to redirect the wealth and Housing
acts to abolish slums and improve living conditions for low income workers.
Roger Meiners is resolute in his theory of bureaucracy: “Despite
all protests to the contrary, the prevailing attitude in Washington is elitist
and paternalistic. It insists that people be regulated because they cannot make
decisions in their own best interests because they are either denied
information or given false information or information too complex for their
limited understanding.
True, bureaucracy
envisions images of bloated and overprotective superiors. However, we should
agree from an educated understanding of what bureaucracy has done for our society
and how we each benefit. Prior to the programs enacted by Roosevelt and other
social-minded persons, working class and elderly were, literally, dying in the streets
if they could no longer produce for the industrial machine. Children were routinely
maimed and dying in sweatshops working 14-hour days and 6-7 day workweeks.
Thomas Patterson gives us
a succinct and partisan explanation of bureaucracy. It is “a method of
organizing people and work, based on the principles of hierarchical authority,
job specialization, and formalized rules…bureaucracy is the most efficient means
of getting people to work together on tasks of great magnitude and complexity.
It is also a form of organization that is prone to waste and rigidity, which is
why efforts are always being made to reform it. “
Flawed system?
Hassan Elhage helps us
understand the flaws which plague government bureaucracy. “…duplication and conflict is a result of the
inefficiency brought on by a large bureaucracy with a multitude of components...
For instance, the [ARS] [1]tells farmers how to grow
crops more efficiently, while the [ASCS] [2]pays farmers to grow fewer
crops.”
It wasn’t just reform and
social concern that swelled administrations to large proportions. Roberts &
Dull in Guarding the Guardians says scandal forced into being oversight committees.
After a price fixing scandal, the Secretary of Agriculture created an Inspector
General. Subsequent scandals in Welfare, Health and Educations including inducements
in Medicaid billing resulted in more Inspectors. “Rather than blame individual
malfeasance,” Roberts/Dull write “Congress depicted
the problem as excessive organizational complexity and insufficient chains
of accountability”
Conclusion
Working in the health care
field, I see firsthand social programs at work. America has made significant progress
in society in compassion to those in need. Some say that is the only thing that
separates us from animals. Absolutely, there are problems with accountability, duplication
and costly mismanagement of funds. There is no easy answer. It will almost certainly require another
committee…
Bibliography
Elhage, Hassan. The Need for Bureaucracy
Explained. 29 Aug 2016. 27 Feb 2020.
<https://democracychronicles.org/bureaucracy-explained/ >.
History.com Editors. Gilded Age. 13 Mar 2019.
A&E Television Networks. 27 Feb 2020. <https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/gilded-age>.
Meiners, Roger E., et al. Regulation and the
Reagan Era : Politics, Bureaucracy and the Public Interest. Independent
Institute, 2017.
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.mendocino.idm.oclc.org/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/ZTAwMHhuYV9fMTU4MDA5OV9fQU41?sid=bf1a89d8-900a-4c73-9c4b-37c986838202@sdc-v-sessmgr02&vid=1&format=EK&rid=1.
Patterson, Thomas. We The People. 13th. New
York: McGraw, 2019. pages 428.
Roberts, Patrick & Matthew Dull. "Guarding
the Guardians: Oversight Appointees and the Search for Accountability in U.S.
Federal Agencies." Journal of Policy History 25.2 (2013):
207-241. 27 Feb 2020.
<http://web.a.ebscohost.com.mendocino.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=394a228c-6824-4af9-8c58-178dda3307f2%40sessionmgr4008>.
ushistory.org. The Development of the Bureaucracy.
n.d. 27 Feb 2020. <https://www.ushistory.org/gov/8a.asp>.
800
words, not including Query, Intro Quote, Headers, Last Sentence in italics and
Bibliography
Prof. Liljeblad POL200
Prof. Liljeblad POL200
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