http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
reckoning with a problematic political activity
"Political life in advanced democracies is steeped in negativity toward bureaucracy. Politicians, parties, and the media routinely blame the bureaucracy for all kinds of political, social, or economic problems. Whenever there's controversy to be processed, bureaucracy is often the scapegoat. While one might expect this negativity to be due to the bureaucracy's actual performance, or simply a reflection of more general frustrations with democracy, the truth lies elsewhere. We don't blame the bureaucracy so much because its performance is so poor or because we're fed up with how things are run in our countries, but rather because democracies are characterized by dynamics and discourses in which the bureaucracy quickly finds itself at the receiving end of blame. This book is the first to unpack these dynamics. For many actors, blaming the bureaucracy is the most convenient thing to do in controversial and conflictual situations - of which there are many in modern democracies. Bureaucracy is everyone's favorite scapegoat because it can be plausibly blamed for almost anything and because it is unlikely to fight back. Unfortunately, bureaucracy is far too valuable to be everyone's punching bag. Rampant bureaucracy blaming undermines administrative performance and creates a public discourse in which a weak and curtailed bureaucracy becomes popular. Because bureaucracy blaming threatens to dismantle the very structures that sustain our democracies, this problematic political activity deserves our full attention"--
Welcome to blame world -- A short history of bureaucracy critique -- The bureaucracy's vulnerability to blame attacks -- Politicians' favorite scapegoat -- Why no one is coming to the rescue of bureaucracy -- The problematic consequences of bureaucracy blaming -- Why we need the bureaucracy more than ever -- Toward better bureaucracy blaming.
Includes bibliographical references and index.