foolmenot.combureaucracies; living, breathing entities
Day-to-day operations of our cities, our states, indeed our nation, are all under the control of non-elected, non-appointed folks watching elected politicians come and go. They are the heart and soul of how things get done… “How things get done” comprises the literal definition of the word, bureaucracy. You will find bureaucracies everywhere; private industry, school systems, government entities, unions, etc. In the home a child may look upon their mother and father as a bureaucracy…
All bureaucracies have common characteristics; at the top of the list is self-preservation. In this regard it assumes an “I know best what is good for you” attitude; what is best for me must therefore be good for you! Any perceived threat to this thinking is a call to arms- violator be damned…
A common perception of bureaucracy is that it stands in the way of “getting things done”. In reality, you can get most anything done in a bureaucracy if first you feed it. You feed it by making the bureaucracy, as an entity, look good. You can also feed selected individuals who have gained influence within the bureaucracy.
Bureaucratic figureheads come and go… They are called presidents, senators, congressman, mayors, city managers, superintendents, and bosses at all levels… The more successful ones, usually more experienced, have learned how to feed their bureaucracy in order to achieve their goals - Good or bad!
more...
"Tie up the performance of a task with red tape, bureaucracy, and politics within a system that is guaranteed to exist regardless of outcome, and the result is usually mediocrity at great expense. Infuse competition, accountability, and the fear of losing a valued customer into the task and mediocrity becomes the exception, excellence the rule. (Comment on "statism" — the notion that society's needs and problems are best addressed by politics and the political process vs. a free market..."Lawrence W. Reed, President of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy)