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
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.
Recommended Citation
Sakaguchi, Sean Y., "The Modern Administrative State: Why We Have ‘Big Government’ and How to Run and Reform Bureaucratic Organizations" (2016). CMC Senior Theses. 1325.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1325
Included in
Administrative Law Commons, American Politics Commons, Asian History Commons, Bankruptcy Law Commons, Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, Models and Methods Commons, Public Administration Commons
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