Graduation Year

2016

Date of Submission

4-2016

Document Type

Open Access Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE)

Reader 1

George Thomas

Terms of Use & License Information

Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

© 1994 Sean Y Sakaguchi

Abstract

This work asserts that bureaucratic organization is not only an inevitable part of the modern administrative state, but that a high quality bureaucracy within a strongly empowered executive branch is an ideal mechanism for running government in the modern era. Beginning with a philosophical inquiry into the purpose of American government as we understand it today, this paper responds to criticisms of the role of expanded government and develops a framework for evaluating the quality of differing government structures. Following an evaluation of the current debate surrounding bureaucracies (from both proponents and critics), this thesis outlines the lessons and principles for structuring and managing an efficient bureaucracy. Finally, this paper concludes with two case studies – Puerto Rican bureaucratic failures and Japanese/Chinese national development – to consider the effects of compliance and non-compliance to the lessons outlined in this work. The inquiry finds that principles such as specialization, political autonomy, effective information systems, higher accountability standards, and managerial emphasis on policy implementation are all critical to superior bureaucratic governance.

Comments

Section 1: The Morality of the Modern State

Section 2: The Current Debate

Section 3: Bureaucratic Organization

Section 4: Bureaucratic Management

Section 5: Case Studies

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