Characteristics of a Bureaucracy

Characteristics of a Bureaucracy A bureaucracy is a system of organization noted for its size and complexity. Everything within a bureaucracy — responsibilities, jobs, and assignments — exists to achieve some goal. Bureaucracies are found at the federal, state, county, and municipal levels of government, and even large private corporations may be bureaucratically organized. People who work for government agencies, from high-level managers and executives to clerical staff, are called bureaucrats. The superintendent of a large urban school district is a bureaucrat, as are the teachers, librarians, nurses, and security guards. The terms bureaucrat and bureaucracy have negative connotations. They bring to mind long, difficult forms; standing in long lines; and encounters with inflexible and unsympathetic clerks. The simplest requests are tangled in red tape, the paperwork that slows down accomplishment of an otherwise simple task. Despite this popular perception, bureaucracy is necessary for big governmental agencies to operate. All bureaucracies share similar characteristics, including specialization, hierarchical organization, and formal rules. In the best circumstances, these characteristics allow a bureaucracy to function smoothly. Specialization Workers in a bureaucracy perform specialized tasks that call for training and expertise. Trained personnel can accomplish their jobs efficiently. The downside of specialization is that bureaucrats often cannot (or refuse to) "work out of class" — that is, take on a task that is outside the scope of their job description. Hierarchical organization The structure of a bureaucracy is called a hierarchy, a succession of tiers from the most menial worker in the organization to the highest executive. Each level has clearly defined authority and responsibilities. Formal rules Bureaucracies function under formal rules. These instructions state how all tasks in the organization, or in a particular tier of the hierarchy, are to be performed. The rules are often called standard operating procedures (SOP) and are formalized in procedures manuals. By following the rules, bureaucrats waste no time in making appropriate decisions. There are contradictions in the operation of a bureaucracy, however. The narrow focus on special expertise may blind a bureaucrat to a flaw in the performance of a task. Compounding the problem may be the bureaucrat's inability to recognize the problem if it occurs in an area outside the bureaucrat's expertise. The hierarchical structure also prevents a democratic approach to problem-solving. Lower-level staff find it difficult to question the decisions of supervisors, and executives and managers may be unaware that a problem exists several rungs down the organizational ladder. The Growth of the Federal Bureaucracy The federal bureaucracy began with the three cabinet departments established by George Washington in 1789. Since that time, not only have the number of departments in the cabinet more than tripled, but now there are also myriad agencies, bureaus, government corporations, authorities, and administrations that take care of the government's business. The nature of the civil service For the purposes of this book, the term civil service refers to the civilian employees of the federal government. Wealthy men dominated the bureaucracy through the 1820s. This changed with the election of President Andrew Jackson (1828), who opened government jobs to the common people. He inaugurated the spoils system, under which party loyalty — not experience or talent — became the criterion for a federal job. This was the beginning of patronage, and it continued through the late 19th century. Congress passed the Pendleton Act in 1883, which created a system for hiring federal workers based on qualifications rather than political allegiance; employees were also protected from losing their jobs when the administration changed. To encourage a nonpartisan bureaucracy, the Hatch Act (1939) prohibited federal workers from running for office or actively campaigning for other candidates. Such limitations on civil liberties are considered by many the price that has to be paid for a professional, nonpolitical bureaucracy. The rise of the welfare state During the 1930s, the size of the federal bureaucracy mushroomed due to President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal agencies. Although many were short-lived, others continue to play a role in the lives of Americans: the Social Security Administration (SSA), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Out of these agencies' programs grew the concept of the welfare state, under which the federal government (rather than individuals, municipalities, or the states) assumes the major responsibility for the well-being of the people. President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society during the 1960s expanded the welfare state with such programs as Medicare, Head Start, the Job Corps, and the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO). As with the New Deal, many Great Society programs became a permanent part of the federal bureaucracy. The idea of the government seeing to the needs of its citizens carried on into the 1970s: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was created by the Nixon administration, the new Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the Labor Department transformed the workplace for most Americans, and new cabinet departments were established. National security bureaucracy The federal bureaucracy deals with more than social and economic policies. A large number of agencies are responsible for protecting the American people from both foreign and domestic dangers. The national security bureaucracy includes the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the National Security Agency (NSA), and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). Responding to late 20th-century public concern about violent crime, drugs, and illegal immigration into the United States, agencies such as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) have increased in size. In the wake of events of September 11, the national security bureaucracy was reorganized and expanded. In October 2001, the Office of Homeland Security was established within the Executive Office of the President. Due to pressure from Congress, however, the office became a cabinet department in 2003. The Department of Homeland Security united 22 federal agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Customs Service, and the U.S. Secret Service. Agencies created specifically in response to the terrorist threat were also transferred to the new department; the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an example.