Bureaucratic Reform: What It Is and What It Achieves

According to Wilson, bureaucracies are inefficient due to the ineffective bureaucratic procedures and rules for carrying out or accessing certain tasks as one encounters and must circumvent the norms, rules, incentives, as well as goals. In addition, bureaucracies involve the involvement of contexts, constraints, values, and culture in the performance of government duties by agencies (Serow & Ladd, 2011).    This paper argues that Americans remain critical of the government bureaucracy as it has proved to be inefficient in the provision of services, and therefore should be reformed. 

First, Americans criticize the bureaucracies as inefficient by arguing that the federal agencies cannot by law maintain, and be dedicated in the provision of services to the public, as there is no incentive that it would earn them profits unlike private entities. Second, is that the government does not have the capacity to distribute the factors of production according to the preferences of the administrators of organizations, and this hinders the provision of services as expected by the public. Additionally, the American public has argued that the bureaucracies have created inefficiency in the provision of services, as federal agencies need to serve the objectives of the organizations rather than the requirement that it should serve the needs of the citizens. 

One way of reforming bureaucracy is through reforming the civil service reform in all levels of government by reducing political interference and implementing a system based on merit when hiring personnel. Second, it is important to require accountability from civil servants in the way in which they carry out their jobs at their places of work so that they offer services to the public as required of them. Additionally, it is important to cut out “red tape” or the government rules, regulations and paperwork that discourage citizens from seeking their rights and services from the government. In conclusion, it has been observed by the American public that bureaucracy is inefficient and should be reformed as soon as possible. 

Reference 

Serow, A. G., & Ladd, E. C. (2011).    The Lanahan readings in the American polity . Baltimore: 

Lanahan Publishers.