Book Reviews : Responsible Public Bureaucracy in the United States. By NORMAN J. POWELL. (Boston : Allyn and Bacon, 1967. Pp. x, 198. $3.95.)
| Author | Frederick Shaw |
| Published date | 01 September 1968 |
| Date | 01 September 1968 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/106591296802100326 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
528
Responsible
Public
Bureaucracy
in
the
United
States.
By
NORMAN
J.
POWELL.
(Boston :
Allyn
and
Bacon,
1967.
Pp.
x,
198.
$3.95.)
In
recent
months
educators
responsible
for
preparing
administrators
for
public
service
have
attempted
to
assess
the
status
of
public
administration
education
and
to
devise
new
programs
in
this
area.
Professor
Powell,
of
the
City
College’s
School
of
Business
and
Public
Administration,
has
not
formally
participated
in
the
debates,
but
his
latest
book
offers
a
partial
solution
to
the
problem.
Used
in
an
introductory
political
science
course,
this
volume
would
provide
potential
public
administrators
with
vocational
orientation
and
all
others
with
a
comprehensive
overview
of
the
political
aspects
of
modern
bureaucracy.
In
the
book’s
opening
pages,
Powell
offers
the
key
to
its
contents
as
follows:
&dquo;American
public
bureaucracy
is
an
aspect
of
American
civilization,
itself
an
intri-
cate
entity
whose
present
character
was
produced
by
massive
factors
like
technology,
climate,
natural
resources,
and
geographical
location
in
combination
with
its
ordinary
people
and
leaders associated
with
institutions
such
as
government
(includ-
ing
the
public
bureaucracy),
the
family,
business
and
agriculture,
and
religion-
all
embedded
in
a
configuration
of
social
and
individual
values,
attitudes,
and
habits.&dquo;
This
sentence
illustrates
the
book’s
philosophy,
its
approach
to
its
subject,
and
the
thoroughness
with
which
that
subject
is
pursued.
As
the
statement
suggests,
Powell
does
not
focus
on
the
traditional
areas
stressed
in
most
basic
works
on
public
administration,
such
as
budgeting,
personnel
issues,
and
organization
and
management
problems.
Instead,
he
concentrates
on
bureaucracy
as
a
response
to
demonstrated
social
needs
and
as
an
&dquo;expression
of
the
whole
of
American
society.&dquo;
The
book
is
organized
into
three
parts,
the
first
devoted
to
the
social
setting
of
bureaucracy
and
its
role
in
a
democratic
system.
In
the
second
he
explains
the
word
&dquo;responsible&dquo;
in
the
volume’s
title
by
describing
structural
relationships
within
governments
and
extra-governmental
forces,
such
as
public
opinion,
interest
groups,
and
communications
media
which
contain
and
restrain
bureaucracies.
(This
sec-
tion
is
written
with
great
cogency,
for
Powell
is
an
authority
on
public
opinion.)
In
the
last
portion
he
views
bureaucracy
critically,
in
an
effort
to
appraise
its
performance
and
offer
prescriptions
for
reform.
This
book
is
surprisingly
comprehensive
in
scope,
exhibiting
a
vast
panorama
of
political
phenomena.
This
statement
implies
that
Powell
has
tapped
many
sources,
and
the
array
is
remarkable,
indeed.
The
text,
nevertheless,
is
firmly
and
logically
organized,
chiefly
because
Powell
is
a
thoughtful
and
skilled
writer.
Powell
did
not
formulate
the
theory
that
a
nation’s
bureaucracy
reflects
the
civilization
it
is
designed
to
serve.
No
one,
however,
has
presented
that
theory
with
greater
cogency.
What
Powell
has
done
has
been
to
accumulate
an
overwhelming
mass
of
evidence
to
demonstrate
its
truth,
to
analyze
that
evidence
in
depth,
and
to
present
his
findings
with
great
vigor
and
clarity.
As
a
result,
he
has
written
a
first-rate
introduction
to
the
role
of
bureaucracy
in
the
American
political
system.
Bureau
of
Educational
Program
Research
and
Statistics,
New
York
City
Board
of
Education
FREDERICK
SHAW
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