All large organizations, whether governmental or not, are bureaucracies, run by bureaucrats. Thus a bureaucracy is a complex, formal system of organization, that provides for specialization of functions and hierarchical relationships. Bureaucracies exist at various levels: federal, state, county and municipal levels of government or any other private organization.

The American federal government is a bureaucracy dealing with public administration. This involves planning, organization, finance, personnel, direction, public relation and control, in order to fulfill. These departments are necessary to enforce public policy, laid down by the competent authorities. Bureaucracy is known as the "fourth branch of the government."

The set of public servants or bureaucrats is the core of government. They are, in a sense, all important, for without the officials and employees to carry out the laws and policies, government would only be a collection of politicians and law makers. Only few of the bureaucrats or executive employees work in Washington. Most of them are employed in regional, field and local offices all over the U.S. More than half of the civilian employees work for the Army, Navy, Air Force or other defense agencies, while only a few of them work for welfare agencies like the Social Security Administration or the Rural Electrification Administration. Representing a variety of religious faiths and political views, most of the bureaucrats are white-collar workers like stenographers, clerks, lawyers, office heads and inspectors. The bureaucrats are so influential that sometimes political heads seem to be insignificant, before them.

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Index

6.0 - Introduction
6.1 - Charecterstics of the Bureaucracy
6.2 - The growth of the Federal Bureaucracy
6.3 - Controlling the size of the Bureaucracy
6.4 - The functions of the Fedearl Bureaucracy
6.5 - The Structure of the Federal Bureaucracy
6.6 - Bureaucracies and the Democratic Process

Chapter 7