From Democracy To Biocracy

Publisher description

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.

In his second book W. Thomson Martin brings together the liberating force of outrage in service to life with the meditative rhythms of connecting to nature --- plants, animals, rivers and mountains. In the tradition of Thomas Berry and Joanna Macy, Tom inspires the reader to explore healing trails that can lead us from self-destructive behaviour to a healthier way of being human.From encounters with bears and foxes to the intricacies of biocratic urban design, this book in equal measure inspires, guides and restores courage and spirit....

Argues for a more robust conception of responsibility in public life than prevails in contemporary democracies.

Although everyone agrees on the need to make government work better, few understand public bureaucracy sufficiently well to offer useful suggestions, either theoretical or practical. In fact, some consider bureaucratic efficiency incompatible with democratic government. Douglas Yates places the often competing aims of efficiency and democracy in historical perspective and then presents a unique and systematic theory of the politics of bureaucracy, which he illustrates with examples from recent history and from empirical research. He argues that the United States operates under a system of "bureaucratic democracy," in which governmental decisions increasingly are made in bureaucratic settings, out of the public eye. He describes the rational, selfinterested bureaucrat as a "minimaxer," who inches forward inconspicuously, gradually accumulating larger budgets and greater power, in an atmosphere of segmented pluralism, of conflict and competition, of silent politics. To make the policy process more competitive, democratic, and open, Yates calls for strategic debate among policymakers and bureaucrats and insists that bureaucrats should give a public accounting of their significant decisions rather than bury them in incremental changes. He offers concrete proposals, applicable to federal, state, and local governments, for simplifying the now-chaotic bureaucratic policymaking system and at the same time bolstering representation and openness. This is a book for all political scientists, policymakers, government officials, and concerned citizens. It may well become a classic statement on the workings of public bureaucracy.

This anthology addresses several of the most central ideas in the field of public administration. These ideas are as relevant to public budgeting as they are to performance measurement or human resource management. Collectively and individually the essays explore what Dwight Waldo referred to as the ?political theories? of public administration: issues that are ultimately unresolvable yet crucial to understanding the nature of public administrative practice. How can democracy and efficiency be balanced? Can there be a science of administration? How should we think about administrative accountability? What is the nature of the relationship between citizen and state? Is professionalism an adequate mechanism for ensuring accountability? How efficient can or should bureaucracy be? What is proper leadership by administrators hoping to address political democracy and managerial efficiency? This ASPA Classics Volumes serves to connect the practice of public policy and administration with the normative theory base that has accrued and the models for practice that may be deduced from this theory.

Bureaucracy is a much-maligned feature of contemporary government. And yet the aftermath of September 11 has opened the door to a reassessment of the role of a skilled civil service in the survival and viability of democratic society. Here, Ezra Suleiman offers a timely and powerful corrective to the widespread view that bureaucracy is the source of democracy's ills. This is a book as much about good governance as it is about bureaucratic organizations. Suleiman asks: Is democratic governance hindered without an effective instrument in the hands of the legitimately elected political leadership? Is a professional bureaucracy required for developing but not for maintaining a democratic state? Why has a reform movement arisen in recent years championing the gradual dismantling of bureaucracy, and what are the consequences? Suleiman undertakes a comparative analysis of the drive toward a civil service grounded in the New Public Management. He argues that "government reinvention" has limited bureaucracy's capacity to adequately serve the public good. All bureaucracies have been under political pressure in recent years to reduce not only their size but also their effectiveness, and all have experienced growing deprofessionalism and politicization. He compares the impact of this evolution in both democratic societies and societies struggling to consolidate democratic institutions. Dismantling Democratic States cautions that our failure to acknowledge the role of an effective bureaucracy in building and preserving democratic political systems threatens the survival of democracy itself.

In uneasy partnership at the helm of the modern state stand elected party politicians and professional bureaucrats. This book is the first comprehensive comparison of these two powerful elites. In seven countries--the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, Italy, and the Netherlands--researchers questioned 700 bureaucrats and 6OO politicians in an effort to understand how their aims, attitudes, and ambitions differ within cultural settings. One of the authors' most significant findings is that the worlds of these two elites overlap much more in the United States than in Europe. But throughout the West bureaucrats and politicians each wear special blinders and each have special virtues. In a well-ordered polity, the authors conclude, politicians articulate society's dreams and bureaucrats bring them gingerly to earth.

Given the influence of public bureaucracies in policymaking and implementation, Steven J. Balla and William T. Gormley assess their performance using four key perspectives—bounded rationality, principal-agent theory, interest group mobilization, and network theory—to help students develop an analytic framework for evaluating bureaucratic accountability. The new Fourth Edition of Bureaucracy and Democracy: Accountability and Performance provides a thorough review of bureaucracy during the Obama and Trump administrations, as well as new attention to state and local level examples and the role of bureaucratic values. ? New to this Edition: Interviews with two new cabinet secretaries—Christine Todd Whitman and Tom Ridge—with insightful quotes from them throughout the book. Added material on the battle over regulations, a battle that will loom large during the Trump administration, including midnight regulations and the Congressional Review Act. New examples demonstrate the activity and influence of constituencies of different kinds including the placing of women and minorities on US currency, a vignette that features the musical Hamilton, and the political protests surrounding the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines. A new discussion of the privatization of roads, the pros and cons.

Biocracy, a term invented by physiologist Walter Bradford Cannon, refers to the influence of biological science on society and its public policies. Beginning with the prophetic essay “Biopolitics: Science, Ethics, and Public Policy,†this book addresses various aspects of the relationships among the life sciences, society, and government. Included in the topics considered are some of the more critical issues of our time: the social responses to life science innovations; health and homeostasis as social concepts; the relationship between history and biology and that between the life sciences and the law; biocratic interpretations of ethical behavior and biopolitical conflicts; and the options, risks, and international consequences of biotechnology. Caldwell’s book is a collection of articles that he wrote on this subject over a period of twenty-five years. Of the ten chapters, four have previously appeared in scholarly journals but have undergone extensive editorial revisions appropriate to this publication. The remaining six chapters have been presented at various professional meetings but have not hitherto been available in print.