What Motivates Bureaucrats? - (Power, Conflict, and Democracy: American Politics Into the 2) by Marissa Martino Golden (Paperback)
About this item
Highlights
- "Every once in a while somebody has to get the bureaucracy by the neck and shake it loose and say, 'Stop doing what you're doing.'
- About the Author: Marissa Martino Golden is assistant professor of political science at Bryn Mawr College.
- 320 Pages
- Political Science, Public Affairs & Administration
- Series Name: Power, Conflict, and Democracy: American Politics Into the 2
Description
About the Book
This book is about upper echelon career bureaucrats--the people who manage federal agencies and who develop and implement public policy--and how they responded to Ronald Reagan's application of the administrative presidency in their agencies during the 1980s. By delving deeply into the particular details of Reagan's intervention into the affairs of upper-level career civil servants, Golden also improves our understanding of bureaucratic behavior in general.
Book Synopsis
"Every once in a while somebody has to get the bureaucracy by the neck and shake it loose and say, 'Stop doing what you're doing.'" --Ronald Reagan
How did senior career civil servants react to Ronald Reagan's attempt to redirect policy and increase presidential control over the bureaucracy? What issues molded their reactions? What motivates civil servants in general? How should they be managed and how do they affect federal policies? To answer these questions, Marissa Martino Golden offers us a glimpse into the world of our federal agencies. What Motivates Bureaucrats? tells the story of a group of upper-level career civil servants in the Reagan administration at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, the Food and Nutrition Service, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The book reveals that most career civil servants were usually responsive to executive direction--even with a president attempting to turn agency policy 180 degrees from its past orientation. By delving deeply into the particular details of Reagan's intervention into the affairs of upper-level career civil servants, Golden also fulfills her broader mission of improving our understanding of bureaucratic behavior in general, explaining why the bureaucracy is controllable and highlighting the limits of that control.From the Back Cover
How did senior career civil servants react to Ronald Reagan's attempt to redirect policy and increase presidential control over the bureaucracy? What issues molded their reactions? What motivates civil servants in general? How should they be managed and how do they affect federal policies? To answer these questions, Marissa Martino Golden offers us a glimpse into the world of our federal agencies.WHAT MOTIVATES BUREAUCRATS? tells the story of a group of upper-level career civil servants in the Reagan administration at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, the Food and Nutrition Service, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The book reveals that most career civil servants were usually responsive to executive direction -- even with a president attempting to turn agency policy 180 degrees from its past orientation.
By delving deeply into the particular details of reagan's intervention into the affairs of upper-level career civil servants, Golden also fulfills her broader mission of improving our understanding of bureaucratic behavior in general, explaining why the bureaucracy is controllable and highlighting the limits of that control.
Review Quotes
"A conceptually sophisticated and thoroughly researched book that adds substantially to our knowledge of the character and the determinants of administrative responsiveness.... I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in the role played by bureaucracy in American government." -- "Political Science Quarterly"
"A conceptually sophisticated and thoroughly researched book that adds substantially to our knowledge of the character and the determinants of administrative responsiveness.... I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in the role played by bureaucracy in American government." -- Political Science Quarterly
"A conceptually sophisticated and thoroughly researched book that adds substantially to our knowledge of the character and the determinants of administrative responsiveness.... I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in the role played by bureaucracy in American government." -- "Political Science Quarterly"
About the Author
Marissa Martino Golden is assistant professor of political science at Bryn Mawr College. She received the Leonard D. White Award from the American Political Science Association for the work upon which this book is based.
