A bureaucracy is an organization run by a large number of people working together through a complex hierarchy. It takes time for a bureaucracy to come to decisions because there are many people who need to understand the issues at hand. There are many rules to make sure no one jumps to conclusions. Each individual has his own jurisdiction and office. The Executive Branch of the U.S. Federal government uses an extremely large bureaucracy to manage many of its departments.
Examples of bureaucracy include the administrative state, deep state, welfare state, nanny state, and the police state. Conservatives generally oppose government bureaucracy, instead favoring limited government and self-governance.
For more detailed treatments, see The Study of Administration and Administrative State.
In 1887, Woodrow Wilson published The Study of Administration,[1] a foundational essay in the structure of modern administration.
In a speech in Poland on July 6, 2017, Donald Trump criticized the recent growth of bureaucracy in the West:
“ | Finally, on both sides of the Atlantic, our citizens are confronted by yet another danger — one firmly within our control. This danger is invisible to some but familiar to the Poles: the steady creep of government bureaucracy that drains the vitality and wealth of the people. The West became great not because of paperwork and regulations but because people were allowed to chase their dreams and pursue their destinies.
Americans, Poles, and the nations of Europe value individual freedom and sovereignty. We must work together to confront forces, whether they come from inside or out, from the South or the East, that threaten over time to undermine these values and to erase the bonds of culture, faith and tradition that make us who we are. If left unchecked, these forces will undermine our courage, sap our spirit, and weaken our will to defend ourselves and our societies.[2] |
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Categories: [Government] [Bureaucracy] [Liberalism]