Bureaucracy and Democracy : Accountability and Performance

It is nearly impossible to look at the implementation of any policy―from testing at an elementary school to testing of a pharmaceutical drug―and avoid seeing the impact and influence of public bureaucracies. Given the importance of their work, and the accountability they owe to the American public, the performance of public bureaucracies must be assessed in a systematic manner. Working through four key perspectives―bounded rationality, principal-agent theory, interest group mobilization, and network theory―Gormley and Balla give students the analytic power needed to comprehensively evaluate performance, or the give-and-take between decision makers, managers, elected officials, organized interests, and individuals.

In addition to updating the book to account for recent developments and new scholarship―from the No Child Left Behind Act and presidential appointments to the Program Assessment Rating Tool and changes to the rulemaking process―the authors apply their working theories in a new chapter on the politics of disaster. With in-depth coverage of 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the avian flu, students can learn important lessons from looking at similar events and crises through the same analytical lenses.

William T. Gormley Jr. is University Professor and professor of government and public policy at Georgetown University. He is the author of several books, including Organizational Report Cards, with David Weimer and Everybody’s Children: Child Care as a Public Problem.

Steven J. Balla is associate professor of political science, public policy and public administration, and international affairs at George Washington University. He is also a research associate at the George Washington Institute of Public Policy, and a member of the International Working Group on Online Consultation and Public Policy Making.