Democracy Bureaucracy And Hypocrisy

Internationally celebrated, America's Declaration of Independence resounds throughout the earth, proclaiming to all who will listen the self-evident truth that "all men are created equal." Under President Lincoln, this historic proposition gave rise To The Fourteenth Amendment To The United States Constitution, a unique legal mandate that commands no person in this country shall be denied "equal protection of the laws."Combining transcendent political principle with sublime rule of law, this extraordinary ethic is personified in the statue of the Goddess Liberty; standing colossal and defiant in Upper New York Bay, her torch ever illuminating the heavens, she announces to all the world, by day and by night, America's solemn pledge that the tired and poor of distant lands shall, upon reaching these shores, find the elusive, coveted sanctuary heartlessly denied To The by all others.However, For many years now, In gross breach of this majestic national faith, and on a scale so massive it denies precedent, The American government has routinely, methodically, and with unspeakable cruelty, inflicted acute suffering upon hundreds of thousands of poor misfortunate souls who, hopelessly downcast, naively raised their eyes To The United States, expecting from her People the integrity to fulfill the promise of their open pledge.Who are these anonymous, unsuspecting victims of American dishonor? They are the poorest, weakest, and most helpless members of our society- the desperate and destitute paupers from other nations who, inexorably impelled by a state of extreme, unimaginable privation, migrate here in courageous disregard of unjust laws that Dr. King, were he alive today, would surely censure with prophetic severity as "morally wrong and sinful."In flagrant violation of the United States Constitution, federal immigration agents in collusion with state law-enforcement officers, daily acting under the color of governmental authority, have for years now been summarily arresting, secretly detaining, illegally imprisoning, and unilaterally extraditing these people, all in brazen disregard of the rule of law as ratified by the Founding Fathers and upheld for more than two centuries of Anglo-American jurisprudence..In 1855, Abraham Lincoln insisted that to suggest the proposition "all men are created equal" does not apply to foreigners is akin To The suggestion that the latter glorious principle does not apply to Negroes or Catholics; such a notion, declared America's greatest president, Is "hypocrisy."

This book discusses some of the main challenges that arise in the management of modern democracies, with a focus on the role of citizens and their perceptions of government. A theoretical and practical framework is suggested for dealing with some of the most urgent problems that governments face today: the balance between bureaucracy and democracy and between political and administrative concerns; the pressing economic concerns in a market-based, globalized knowledge society and the changes in the relationship of trust amongst the players. At the heart of the analysis is the idea that running governments effectively means settling the potential conflicts between all those who are involved in the governmental process and in the making of public policy and public actions. The authors suggest approaches for strengthening the trust in democratic institutions and cooperation between the main actors in the democratic sphere, without compromising on the need to ensure effective governance.

One of the major dilemmas facing the administrative state in the United States today is discerning how best to harness for public purposes the dynamism of markets, the passion and commitment of nonprofit and volunteer organizations, and the public-interest-oriented expertise of the career civil service. Researchers across a variety of disciplines, fields, and subfields have independently investigated aspects of the formidable challenges, choices, and opportunities this dilemma poses for governance, democratic constitutionalism, and theory building. This literature is vast, affords multiple and conflicting perspectives, is methodologically diverse, and is fragmented. The Oxford Handbook of American Bureaucracy affords readers an uncommon overview and integration of this eclectic body of knowledge as adduced by many of its most respected researchers. Each of the chapters identifies major issues and trends, critically takes stock of the state of knowledge, and ponders where future research is most promising. Unprecedented in scope, methodological diversity, scholarly viewpoint, and substantive integration, this volume is invaluable for assessing where the study of American bureaucracy stands at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, and where leading scholars think it should go in the future. The Oxford Handbooks of American Politics are a set of reference books offering authoritative and engaging critical overviews of the state of scholarship on American politics. Each volume focuses on a particular aspect of the field. The project is under the General Editorship of George C. Edwards III, and distinguished specialists in their respective fields edit each volume. The Handbooks aim not just to report on the discipline, but also to shape it as scholars critically assess the scholarship on a topic and propose directions in which it needs to move. The series is an indispensable reference for anyone working in American politics. General Editor for The Oxford Handbooks of American Politics: George C. Edwards III

This classic text, originally published in 1948, is a study of the public administration movement from the viewpoint of political theory and the history of ideas. It seeks to review and analyze the theoretical element in administrative writings and to present the development of the public administration movement as a chapter in the history of American political thought.The objectives of The Administrative State are to assist students of administration to view their subject in historical perspective and to appraise the theoretical content of their literature. It is also hoped that this book may assist students of American culture by illuminating an important development of the first half of the twentieth century. It thus should serve political scientists whose interests lie in the field of public administration or in the study of bureaucracy as a political issue; the public administrator interested in the philosophic background of his service; and the historian who seeks an understanding of major governmental developments.This study, now with a new introduction by public policy and administration scholar Hugh Miller, is based upon the various books, articles, pamphlets, reports, and records that make up the literature of public administration, and documents the political response to the modern world that Graham Wallas named the Great Society. It will be of lasting interest to students of political science, government, and American history.

The politics-administration dichotomy is much mentioned and often criticized in the Public Administration literature. The Politics-Administration Dichotomy: Toward a Constitutional Perspective, Second Edition offers a book-length treatment of this classical notion. While public administration academics typically reject it as an outdated and even dangerous idea, it re-emerges implicitly in their analyses. This book tells the story of how this has happened and suggests a way to get out of the quandary. It analyzes the dichotomy position in terms of content, purpose, and relevance. What’s in the Second Edition Extensive study of the politics-administration dichotomy as a classic idea in Public Administration A much-overlooked constitutionalist line of argument in defense of this widely discredited notion Exploration and further development of the intellectual legacy of Dwight Waldo Coverage of the dichotomy’s conceptual origins in 18th and 19th century Continental-European thought An assessment of main criticisms against and alternatives for the dichotomy presented in the literature Contributions to the newly emerging Constitutional School in the study of public administration An argument against the institutional separation of Political Science and Public Administration in academia Completely revised and updated, the book examines the idea that politics and public administration should be separated in our theories and practices of government. A combination of history of ideas and theoretical analysis, it reconstructs the dichotomy’s conceptual origins and classical understandings and gives an assessment of the main criticisms raised against it and the chief alternatives suggested for it. Arguing that one-sided interpretations have led to the dichotomy’s widespread but wrongful dismissal, the study shows how it can be recovered as a meaningful idea when understood as a constitutional principle. This study helps readers make sense of highly confused debates and challenge the issues with an original and provocative stance.

Although a powerful, independent bureaucracy poses a threat to democracy, it is indispensable to its proper functioning. This book provides an overview of the complex relationship between bureaucracy and the politics of democracy and is essential reading for students of sociology, political science and public administration. It is designed to guide students through the maze of classical and modern theories on the topic, to give them basic information on the historical developments in this area and the present them with case histories of the actual relationship between bureaucrats and politicians in democratic societies.

During the last couple of decades, there has been an expansion in a number of related and overlapping fields producing evidence of covert activities: toxic cultures, destructive leadership styles, micropolitics, ethical problems in organisations and administration, abusive power and authority, and many other topics of dysfunctional management and leadership studies that frequently make reference to secretive and deceptive behaviour. In this book, Eugenie A. Samier draws on a range of disciplines including education, psychology, administration and management studies and organizational theory to provide a comprehensive examination of the ways in which organisational leaders and administrators carry out their roles in a secretive or deceptive manner. Samier presents a theory of covert administration that can be used to: provide an analysis and interpretation of secretive and deceptive activity inform decision-making both theoretically and practically offer a means of diagnosing errant management using secretive and deceptive practices provide a general set of guidelines for determining when clandestine activities may be legitimate and moral. Alongside a detailed presentation of the theory of covert administration, the book explores covert administration in practice, factors leading to it, and the results of attempts to combat its many forms. It will be key reading for researchers and postgraduates with an interest in the field, as well as administrators and policy makers.

This thesis is an interdisciplinary study of the conflicts and tensions in the role of NHS complaints managers. The thesis sets out to explore the contradictions inherent in the role of complaints managers and the ways complaints managers deal with these contradictions. The interdisciplinary theoretical underpinning of the research is informed by conceptualizations of the complaints manager in the specific socio-legal sense of 'complaints handler'/ third-party dispute handler;' a broader public administration framework, of 'administrator'/ bureaucrat, and finally a wide-ranging sociological/ social psychological framework, as 'social actor'. Thus the thesis draws on an eclectic range of literature from socio-legal studies, public administration, sociology, and social psychology. It also draws on non-theoretical social policy literature in relation to the policy context of the thesis. In relation to methodology, the research uses a qualitative approach. It is based on in depth telephone interviews recorded with thirty NHS complaints managers, which were transcribed verbatim and are the focus of systematic analysis. The complaints managers' interviews are supplemented with documentary analysis of job descriptions and person specifications of NHS complaints managers and email interviews with 'NHS complaints experts' (who are not complaint managers) who have a specialist knowledge of the complaints manager role. Three key areas emerged as the principal findings of the research: *The complaints manager's role encompasses inherent contradictions, regardless of the personal style or individual approach of the complaints manager; *Complaints managers exhibited opposing stances (that is very different responses/ reactions) to the inherent contradictions in their role in relation to 'organization orientation' versus 'complainant orientation'; *There were different types of complaints managers. Accordingly, a typology of complaints managers was generated with specific reference to their responses and reactions to the inherent contradictions in their role, in terms of complainant orientation versus organization orientation. In conclusion, the thesis argues that there are without doubt fundamental contradictions in the role of NHS complaints managers in terms of reconciling complainants' rights with organizational requirements. However, ultimately, individual complaints managers respond and react very differently to the inherent contradictions in their role.