Bureaucratic politics

For case studies of public entrepreneurs in the United States, see Eugene Lewis s study of Hyman Rickover, J. Edgar Hoover, and Robert Moses, Public Entrepreneurs Toward a Theory of Bureaucratic Political Power The Organizational Lives of Hyman Rickover, J. Edgar Hoover, and Robert Moses (Bloomington Indiana University Press, 1980). 

See, for instance, James Thomson, On the Making of China Policy, 1961-9 A Study in Bureaucratic Politics, China Quarterly 50 (1972), p. 243 Bowles, Promises to Keep, pp. 307, 365-7, 403. 

The last two decades have produced a greater awareness of the utility of theory within the discipline of history, so that there has developed a steady stream of historical works informed by various theoretical stances derived from the humanities and social sciences. Diplomatic historians have readily employed the political science concepts of bureaucratic politics, public opinion, and ideology and have more recently introduced into their works theories of corporatism, cognitive psychology, world-systems, and dependency. Moreover, social historians have led the field... 

Ultimately, the test of the efficacy of the use of theory in explaining history lies in how much our understanding of the historical event in question is enhanced by the new treatment. The foregoing chapters have employed the rubric of discursive representations in explaining the Sino-American rapprochement in three ways. First, they identified the key subdiscourses of reconciliation with China and explored their individual rationales, achievements, and limitations. Second, they analyzed how these separate discursive strands related to each other in the case of conflicting discourses, how one eventually became dominant and in other cases, how one subdiscourse evolved into another, with what continuities and innovations. This included an examination of the mechanics of transition - in particular, the structural or external factors that influenced the efficacy of a particular discourse the bureaucratic politics that... 

The China Card and Its Origins US Bureaucratic Politics and the Strategic Triangle. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Brandeis University, 1983. 

Appropriateness Because it requires less central control, it is less prone to local political and bureaucratic difficulties. There is no one authority that must agree to every change or must be persuaded to address the evolving requirements of every department. Instead, the business users hold much more responsibility for providing support appropriate for... 

When Hank Uhrig, heard that Joe Blair had approved my request, he clearly felt that I was being disloyal. But from my standpoint, the opportunity to conduct and publish important research was being lost in a bureaucratic fog of administrative headaches. I remembered how Hank had once told me that he wanted me to replace him as laboratory chief when he retired. To me this was not an enticement. It seemed like a step up into more administrative and political... 

When we define self-interest as the pursuit of safety, control, advancement, approval, and territory for its own sake, the bureaucratic way of operating Is almost inevitable. Negative politics is created when I feel the orgsmlzatlon in some way owns me. . . offers little autonomy. . . ... 

This chapter has argued that cost-effectiveness evaluation of medicines, despite widespread normative, bureaucratic and political support, is an endangered global public good. This is so not only because of threats posed by corporate multinationals, but because those operating it lack a systematic global vision for its long-term enhancement. 

Citing plans for Ecuador as an example, Stiglitz revealed that the World Bank s expected that its medicine would spark social unrest - to use their bureaucratic term for a nation in flames. And faced with this unrest the chosen state managers are briefed to face down civil strife and suffering with, political resolve - and still higher prices. The article went on to add that you almost get the impression that the riot is written into the plan.38... 

One common method used by management in order to limit, direct and control the discretionary power and autonomy of street-level bureaucrats is work by contract (Lipsky 1980). When this method is used, employees must complete a certain specified number of matters within a specific time. A counter-strategy among street-level bureaucrats when subjected to this kind of method is to shift their focus from complicated and time-consuming matters to matters that can be completed quickly and easily. Within both SWEA and SCI work by contract is practiced on an individual and a collective level - piecework is the phrase the interviewees use when referring to work by contract. Inspectors can, for example, receive one piece for an inspection or a requirement they make on an inspection object. One way to live up to the contract is to accomplish many easy and simplified inspections, especially if there is a risk that the stipulated measures will not be reached. By doing so, the inspectors can create more leeway for their discretion and autonomy. However, at the same time the risk that the policy outcomes will deviate from expected and politically decided on outcomes increases. 

The political beliefs of Nixon aside, players in pohtics and government (international and domestic alike) must grab opportunities to make a gain. Disarmament is a raw political endeavour and, as such, has also been dealt with in a larger political context by politicians, bureaucrats and experts who have successfully timed the opportunities, and maturing momentum, and subsequently advanced their political agenda. 

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