Bring out the role of bureaucracy in policy implementation.
Answers
Answered by
1
The most obvious role of the bureaucrat in policy implementation is to be one of the workers who carries out the policy day-to-day—the tax collector who enforces the tax code, the welfare department official who provides benefits to welfare recipients, the corporate customer service representative who responds to requests to help from customers.
Less obvious is the bureaucrat’s writing the detailed rules for implementing the policy. Government policy set forth in legislation is never sufficiently detailed to provide the level of guidance that workers need day-to-day to implement the policy. Therefore bureaucrats themselves write the detailed rules. This can be almost as important as the basic legislation itself. I would assume the same applies to organizations other than governments; policies set by the board of directors or the executive team might require standard operating procedures or other detailed documents to tell workers how to implement the policy.
A third role, and chronologically the first, is advising the policy-making body on the impact of a proposed policy. If policy makers know how to do their job, they will consult with the “experts” on what problems a new policy may create. The bureaucrat may not like a proposed policy, and will try to influence its development. The policy makers will have the final word on what the policy will be, and should recognize the bureaucrats’ bias. However, the bureaucrats do have knowledge that the policy maker should be aware of, even as appraising it critically.
Less obvious is the bureaucrat’s writing the detailed rules for implementing the policy. Government policy set forth in legislation is never sufficiently detailed to provide the level of guidance that workers need day-to-day to implement the policy. Therefore bureaucrats themselves write the detailed rules. This can be almost as important as the basic legislation itself. I would assume the same applies to organizations other than governments; policies set by the board of directors or the executive team might require standard operating procedures or other detailed documents to tell workers how to implement the policy.
A third role, and chronologically the first, is advising the policy-making body on the impact of a proposed policy. If policy makers know how to do their job, they will consult with the “experts” on what problems a new policy may create. The bureaucrat may not like a proposed policy, and will try to influence its development. The policy makers will have the final word on what the policy will be, and should recognize the bureaucrats’ bias. However, the bureaucrats do have knowledge that the policy maker should be aware of, even as appraising it critically.
Similar questions