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CHAPTER TWO: The Nature of Government

Review

1. Early on in the chapter, the authors discuss how much we are surrounded by government bureaucracy. Says the text, "The water we drink, the cars we ride, the bicycles we pedal, the streets we walk—all are the product of government bureaucracy in action". Does this reassure you or make you nervous? Why? Were you aware of so much government in your midst?


2. Dwight Waldo is known for his work on the rise of the administrative state, which prompted scholars to consider whether a large bureaucracy actually fosters or limits democracy. What do you think? Do we need lots of government in order to have the strongest democracy or does "big" government interfere with our democratic ideals? How do we compare to the global stage?


3. As Hurricane Katrina proved, making policy does not ensure results happen. Why is this so? What are the benefits and the challenges associated with a system in which executing policy is often a complex process? Would you rather another way?


4. Political scientist Herbert Kaufman once said that one person's red tape is another person's cherished procedural safeguard. Explain this in light of the chapter. What do you think about this?


5. Woodrow Wilson is quoted saying "the object of administrative study is to rescue executive methods from the confusion and costliness of empirical experiment and set them upon foundations laid deep in stable principle". Comment on this quote. Do you agree with Wilson? How much of what he is saying rests in the assumption that administration is a neutral instrument? Do you agree with this assumption?