Bureaucracy and the Policy Process

Book excerpt: The central role that bureaucracy plays in the policy process is played by individuals, namely, by subject matter experts and managers we call political executives. The context in which these executives play their roles is defined by three key forces--the organizational environment of bureaucracy itself; our governing philosophy stressing responsiveness, respect for individual rights, and accountability; and the demands of the people and the institutions those people have created to govern themselves. This book provides an in-depth look at each of these forces, with chapters specifically devoted to how bureaucrats interpret their role in the policy process, how the organizational environment influences their ability to play that role, and most of all, to the interactions between bureaucrats and the institutions of what we call the Constitutional government--the President, the Congress, and the Courts.