Goodsell The Case Of Bureaucracy Summary

In the book, The Case for Bureaucracy author, Charles T. Goodsell conveys his assertion for bureaucracy. He argues that Americans have a lot of wariness concerning the government. Goodsell’s major takeaway however, is that wariness in government is normal it promotes checks and balances yet, this is the sole reason why college graduates do not want to become a part of public service careers.

Goodsell’s overall theme of The Case for Bureaucracy is the negative reputation bureaucracy has towards Americans. He explains a few good run ins he has had we bureaucrats during his time however, his example about the US Postal Office is most relatable. When Goodsell states that even though the US Postal Service “collects and delivers 650 million items to 130 million mailing addresses six times a week, with 93 percent of them arriving on time” (Goodsell p. 4) people still complain about the one or two packages that arrives late. He argues that just because these few packages come late does not mean the whole agency is inefficient; simply put he implies do not let a few

bad apples ruin the whole batch.
This distrust Americans have with bureaucracy comes in three forms, Goodsell writes, “We survey this extensive material under three topics of criticism: (1) poor performance, (2) excessive power, and (3) oppression of the induvial” (Goodsell 11).

I disagree with Goodsell more specifically the first two points. I believe Americans see government as poor performing is because government works for the majority which is why we have nonprofits; they work for the minorities. Let me explain, there are many government services out there to help a majority of people but sometimes it does not always go according to plan like the Veterans Association. The VA can only do so much which is why it is important to have nonprofits like The GI GO Fund or The Wounded Warriors Project to help them out. So, I believe the government is only looked at as poor performing is because they can only help majority of citizens and not

all.
To his second point, however, I believe Americans do find the government excessive because of their need to help the majority of Americans. Since the government has to do so much for Americans from their healthcare to transportation to education to social security the government can seem overbearing at times. Like Goodsell states government is the only “legal monopoly.” Yet the people who has a problem with the widespread of government do not look to understand that if government decrease their size, life will be a lot harder for the ones who depend on the government to help them put.