What are the advantages and disadvantages of bureaucracy as it exists in contemporary political systems? Under what conditions would a non-bureaucratic form of administration be desirable?
What will be an ideal response?
The ideal answer should include:
1. A bureaucracy is a particular structure and set of processes through which the administration can operate.
2. Advantages: A well-structured bureaucracy can help citizens navigate their government and can act as a deterrent to corruption. A well-functioning bureaucracy (Weberian bureaucracy) provides predictability, fairness, and standardization.
3. Disadvantages: But there are also many contemporary political systems, and even more examples historically, in which public administrators treat people unpredictably or with clear biases. Some criticisms of bureaucracy are really directed at all large administrative structures that exercise increasing control over people's lives and that seem too large and too powerful. Fundamentally, the bureaucracy label has come to connote a system that is too inflexible and impersonal.
4. Despite criticisms of its occasional excesses in practice, most people conclude that they would prefer a Weberian bureaucracy to one that is arbitrary, discriminatory, or corrupt.
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The merit plan applies to
A. selection of judges in some states' systems. B. jurisdiction in the federal system. C. jurisdiction in the state systems. D. selection of judges in the federal system. E. None of these answers is correct.
Political appointees are:
a. Aides of legislators. b. High-level civil servants. c. Appointed by the court system. d. High-level officials who are appointed by an elected head-of-government.
A bill cannot be considered passed by the Texas Legislature unless the ______ has authorized that the amount to be spent by the bill is available.
a. lieutenant governor b. attorney general c. comptroller d. Speaker of the Texas House
Why did the line-item veto exist for only a short time?
a. Governors already had a line-item veto at the state level. b. Bill Clinton used the line-item veto to excess. c. The line-item veto was redundant with the pocket veto. d. Congress voted to remove the line-item veto power. e. The Supreme Court ruled the line-item veto unconstitutional.