Bureaucracy Terms
We were asked to read an article related to some of the things that the Federal Beureaucracy (which according to Max Weber is a hierarchial authority structure that uses task specialization, operates on the merit principal and behaves impersonally) does to influence the federal government and really the everyday lives of United States Citizens.
Click HERE for the Article that I used
My Response (In the form of a Monologue)
This is Rebecca Waters from CNN reporting to you live from the devastation that is the shore of New Jersey after being ripped apart by Hurricane Sandy earlier in the month. As we all saw, the massive storm practically engulfed the entire East Coast and left people in several cities like New York without power, or in some cases, a roof over their head. Even more surprising than the damage, though, is the lack of action from the Capital. The leaders of the affected states have called up to Washington only to be faced with bureaucratic red tape and non-decision in the time that they need an answer the most.
The ideas of civil service and merit principle, hiring based on entrance exams and promotion ratings to produce hard working administration has been superseded by patronage and bribes used not for the general good, but to keep up their lifestyles. With these administrators in the federal government that will do anything to keep their “bosses” happy, one has to wonder how anything ever gets done when greedy bureaucrats are putting red tape up everywhere. It has been three weeks since the natural disaster ravaged the United States, but there is no end in sight for those suffering due to the snail-like pace of policy implementation. The President of the United States has even stepped up to the plate and told the Congress that there will be no more red tape tolerated in this dire situation. I don’t know about them, but if the president told me to get my act together and do something, I’d do it in a heartbeat.
We talked to Governor Chris Christie this morning concerning the slow process of getting federal help and he gave us the solution to all of the troubles that this country is having at this time: the government needs to learn how to limit the red tape or get around it so that the country can move past this emergency swiftly, but most importantly they need to learn how to compromise. He joked candidly that they don’t know how to because they were only children, but all jokes aside they should learn to for the good of the citizens of New York, New Jersey, and all areas that have damages that could easily be fixed if properly funded. Hopefully all levels of government, from the bureaucracy to Mr. Obama himself, can straighten up their act before it is too late. Back to you Robert.