Bureaucracy
Categories: Education, Regulations
Ever stand in line for three hours at a Department of Motor Vehicles? Bureaucracy at its finest...and you've only asked yourself 87 times, "Why don't they just replace all these people with computers?"
While many associate it negatively with the government, bureaucracies can be found in just about any organization. It refers to very rigid standards and procedures, and often requires mountains of paperwork.
When asked why a certain procedure or document is necessary, the response if often, “We’ve always done it that way.”
Lower level employees of a bureaucracy rarely have any discretion to modify a procedure or to make an exception, even when a particular situation calls for it. As seen at the Department of Motor Vehicles, this can lead to major inefficiencies. And an enormous majority of government workers are also union workers, so the bad ones can almost never be fired.
Trump changed the laws a bit to make it easier, but the jury is out on this one. One area where bureaucracy still does (and should) reign supreme revolves around key safety items, like management regs for a nuclear power plant. What might be seen as a bureaucratic procedure is necessary for everyone to follow.
