Trevor Ramsey
03.06 The Bureaucracy
Respond to an FRQ about the Bureaucracy
Option 2
After reading the following excerpts, please respond to A, B, and C:
"[M]any of the popular stereotypes about government agencies and their members are either questionable
or incomplete. To explain why government agencies behave as they do, it is not enough to know that they
are 'bureaucracies'—that is, it is not enough to know that they are big, or complex, or have rules. What is
crucial is that they are government bureaucracies. . . . [N]ot all government bureaucracies behave the
same way or suffer from the same problems. There may even be registries of motor vehicles in other
states that do a better job than the one in Massachusetts. But all government agencies have in common
certain characteristics that tend to make their management far more difficult than managing a
McDonald's. These common characteristics are the constraints of public agencies."—James Q. Wilson,
From Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do and Why They Do It
"A privatization revolution has swept the world since the 1980s. Governments in more than 100 countries
have moved thousands of state-owned business and other assets to the private sector. Airports, airlines,
railroads, energy companies, postal services, and other businesses valued at about $3.3 trillion have been
privatized over the past three decades. Privatization has improved government finances by raising
revenues and reducing spending. More important, it has spurred economic growth and improved services
because privatized businesses have cut costs, increased quality, and pursued innovation."—Chris
Edwards, "Options for Federal Privatization and Reform Lessons from Abroad"
A. Describe one similarity and one difference in the ideas expressed about the bureaucracy
in the excerpts.
One similarity that is present in both excerpts is the idea that the authors support the privatization
of bureaucracy. James Q. Wilson discusses that the public is unaware of what the bureaucracy entitles due
to their differing courses of action and purpose; however, Wilson makes clear that the similarity amongst
the different agencies is the restraint that comes from the result of being public agencies rather than
privately owned. Chris Edwards explains how the process of privatization benefits government finances,
for example, he states, “it has spurred economic growth and improved services because privatized
businesses have cut costs, increased quality, and pursued innovation”, which supports his perspective that
the bureaucracy should be privatized. One difference among the two articles is how they argued
bureaucracy not being privatized as being detrimental. The first article discusses how the bureaucracy is
‘too complex’ and compares the management of it to the privately-owned company McDonalds. On the
This study source was downloaded by 100000850872992 from CourseHero.com on 05-28-2023 03:08:41 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/43821597/0306-The-Bureaucracydoc/
03.06 The Bureaucracy
Respond to an FRQ about the Bureaucracy
Option 2
After reading the following excerpts, please respond to A, B, and C:
"[M]any of the popular stereotypes about government agencies and their members are either questionable
or incomplete. To explain why government agencies behave as they do, it is not enough to know that they
are 'bureaucracies'—that is, it is not enough to know that they are big, or complex, or have rules. What is
crucial is that they are government bureaucracies. . . . [N]ot all government bureaucracies behave the
same way or suffer from the same problems. There may even be registries of motor vehicles in other
states that do a better job than the one in Massachusetts. But all government agencies have in common
certain characteristics that tend to make their management far more difficult than managing a
McDonald's. These common characteristics are the constraints of public agencies."—James Q. Wilson,
From Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do and Why They Do It
"A privatization revolution has swept the world since the 1980s. Governments in more than 100 countries
have moved thousands of state-owned business and other assets to the private sector. Airports, airlines,
railroads, energy companies, postal services, and other businesses valued at about $3.3 trillion have been
privatized over the past three decades. Privatization has improved government finances by raising
revenues and reducing spending. More important, it has spurred economic growth and improved services
because privatized businesses have cut costs, increased quality, and pursued innovation."—Chris
Edwards, "Options for Federal Privatization and Reform Lessons from Abroad"
A. Describe one similarity and one difference in the ideas expressed about the bureaucracy
in the excerpts.
One similarity that is present in both excerpts is the idea that the authors support the privatization
of bureaucracy. James Q. Wilson discusses that the public is unaware of what the bureaucracy entitles due
to their differing courses of action and purpose; however, Wilson makes clear that the similarity amongst
the different agencies is the restraint that comes from the result of being public agencies rather than
privately owned. Chris Edwards explains how the process of privatization benefits government finances,
for example, he states, “it has spurred economic growth and improved services because privatized
businesses have cut costs, increased quality, and pursued innovation”, which supports his perspective that
the bureaucracy should be privatized. One difference among the two articles is how they argued
bureaucracy not being privatized as being detrimental. The first article discusses how the bureaucracy is
‘too complex’ and compares the management of it to the privately-owned company McDonalds. On the
This study source was downloaded by 100000850872992 from CourseHero.com on 05-28-2023 03:08:41 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/43821597/0306-The-Bureaucracydoc/
