Essay #4 -- Bureaucracy Vs. Democracy Submit Assignment

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Negative Connotations:

The Word bureaucrats often have a negative connotation, the main reasons behind it are that the structure of the system sometimes tends to look backward. They still are running the system that are things of the past. The conflict usually arises when forward-thinking entrepreneurs and visionaries ascertain ways through which the system can be improved. Other problems include slow response time and potential misuse of power and redundancy. One of the main criticism of bureaucracy is the misuse of power for personal gains. Department supervisors and managers may add unnecessary employees to build their power and succeed in their personal gains. Further criticism that can bring negative criticism towards bureaucracy is that they focus a lot on decision rights than decision making, they spend a lot of their time on extending their powers rather than solving actual problems ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"3N8atf75","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(\\uc0\\u8220{}How Much Bureaucracy Is a Good Thing in Government and Business?\\uc0\\u8221{})","plainCitation":"(“How Much Bureaucracy Is a Good Thing in Government and Business?”)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":210,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/jpfyfVgo/items/G8E9SUHG"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/jpfyfVgo/items/G8E9SUHG"],"itemData":{"id":210,"type":"webpage","title":"How Much Bureaucracy is a Good Thing in Government and Business?","container-title":"HBS Working Knowledge","abstract":"SUMMING UP: Bureaucracies aren't by nature bad, but they aren't necessarily built for crisp decision making, either. James Heskett's readers debate the need for bureaucrats.","URL":"http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/how-much-bureaucracy-is-a-good-thing-in-government-and-business","language":"en-us","issued":{"date-parts":[["2017",1,4]]},"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",10,7]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (“How Much Bureaucracy Is a Good Thing in Government and Business?”).

Reasons for Lack of Accountability:

The reason for the lack of accountability in the federal workforce is mainly down to the system. The system usually keeps the documents round and round, from one department to another, from one person to another and when they finally reach the actual decision-maker he usually doesn't understand the problem at all. Proper communication between different departments is also a reason that workforces are unable to progress. One other reason is the dependence of different institutions on one another. If one does anything out of order, the other departments don't interfere because they know that the same thing may happen to them as well.

In an ideal environment, bureaucracy should immediately respond to the directives of the president and head of an institution but in reality, there are some physical real world problems that exist while dealings. Dealings with different institutions and individuals can sometimes cause problems. Accountability and risks are usually correlated. For example one of the senior nurses in the management of focus group suggests that they fear litigation and due to that while ticking boxes during documentation I am very conscious of everything but I fear that something might stand up in a law court in the future ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"nPZ6lnlb","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Murphy and Skillen)","plainCitation":"(Murphy and Skillen)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":212,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/jpfyfVgo/items/HDH9TPIW"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/jpfyfVgo/items/HDH9TPIW"],"itemData":{"id":212,"type":"article-journal","title":"Exposure to the Law: Accountability and Its Impact on Street-level Bureaucracy","container-title":"Social Policy and Society","page":"35-46","volume":"17","issue":"1","author":[{"family":"Murphy","given":"Mark"},{"family":"Skillen","given":"Paul"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2018"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Murphy and Skillen).

The government and public are two entities that should work to get a common ground. The common ground should represent the views of public as what the government does is actually the representation of public wishes. Both entities should respect others' decisions. For example in 2012 the majority of Americans showed that they are standing firm in their support of President Obama for Israel, but the majority of them also wants a two-state solution ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"g5NQRgFU","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Enten)","plainCitation":"(Enten)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":213,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/jpfyfVgo/items/IPRLWHGQ"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/jpfyfVgo/items/IPRLWHGQ"],"itemData":{"id":213,"type":"article-newspaper","title":"Where is US public opinion on Israel, Palestine and the Gaza conflict? | Harry J Enten","container-title":"The Guardian","section":"Opinion","source":"www.theguardian.com","abstract":"Harry J Enten: Americans line up solidly behind President Obama in their support for Israel, but a clear majority wants a two-state solution","URL":"https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/nov/19/us-public-opinion-israel-palestine-gaza","ISSN":"0261-3077","title-short":"Where is US public opinion on Israel, Palestine and the Gaza conflict?","language":"en-GB","author":[{"family":"Enten","given":"Harry J."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2012",11,19]]},"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",10,7]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Enten). The authorities and media are the sources for the public to raise their voices if in any case, the public opinion clashes with government policies. The government should act on what the majority of the public wants because the government, in reality, is the face of the public of a country.

Work Cited

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Enten, Harry J. “Where Is US Public Opinion on Israel, Palestine and the Gaza Conflict? | Harry J Enten.” The Guardian, 19 Nov. 2012. www.theguardian.com, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/nov/19/us-public-opinion-israel-palestine-gaza.

“How Much Bureaucracy Is a Good Thing in Government and Business?” HBS Working Knowledge, 4 Jan. 2017, http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/how-much-bureaucracy-is-a-good-thing-in-government-and-business.

Murphy, Mark, and Paul Skillen. “Exposure to the Law: Accountability and Its Impact on Street-Level Bureaucracy.” Social Policy and Society, vol. 17, no. 1, 2018, pp. 35–46.