Most American citizens are quick to criticize federal bureaucracy for its size and inefficiency. They assume it has exceeded the intent of our nation's founders; yet men like James Madison and Alexander Hamilton knew that good public administrators were essential to good government. William Richardson here examines the origins, legitimacy, and limitations of public administration from the perspective of the Founders' thought. He shows that these men—especially the authors of The Federalist—advocated an energetic public administration as an essential component of government and even considered the emergence of a "natural aristocracy" of virtuous civil servants. The Founders would see the fault of today's federal bureaucracy, argues Richardson, not as much in its size as in the character of its members. Richardson relates the Founders' belief that the nation should strive to produce public servants committed to developing character traits, such as wisdom and moderation, that would exemplify the highest ideals of the republic and thus ensure its survival. They anticipated some self-interest on the part of administrators, but believed it would be held in check by public opinion and the political process. To test the success of the Founders' ideal, Richardson examines both the character of administrators and the role of ethics in forming that character. He explores the various plans for educating public leaders throughout American history and looks at how attitudes toward public administration have changed in this century, from Woodrow Wilson's scientific ideal to recent proposals to downsize government. Among other suggestions, Richardson advocates reforming existing institutions by emphasizing character. Democracy, Bureaucracy, and Character is an exercise in legitimizing public administration, offering important insights into the Founders' thoughts that can be applied to today's debate over government bureaucracy. Public administration may be problematic by nature, observes Richardson, but it is crucial to our form of government. Through his analysis we can see that, while bureaucracy and democracy have long had an uneasy relationship, neither can be effective unless we fully assess the place and purpose of character in the American regime.

For more than two centuries, argues Brian J. Cook in Bureaucracy and Self-Government, two conceptions of public administration have coexisted in American politics: the "instrumental" (bureaucracy's job is to carry out the orders of elected officials) and the "constitutive" (bureaucracy shapes public policy and thus the character of the political community). Through an examination of key conflicts in American political development -- from the debates of 1789 through the Jacksonian era controversies and the confrontations of the New Deal -- Cook shows how these two views of public administration have been in constant tension, with the instrumental view eventually dominating public discourse.

Applying a rigorously theoretical approach, Im (Kangwon National U., Korea) argues that bureaucrats have obtained policymaking power owing to their specialization, technique and access to information. These bureaucrats tend to be without political ideology, a propensity that Im argues is dangerous to democracy when found in a leader. Following a detailed analysis of bureaucrats, bureaucracy, and two lines of political thought?liberal democracy and communism?Im proposes an alternative and improved solution to current bureaucratic forms of power which he calls "administrative democracy". c. Book News Inc.

A timely new perspective on the impact of populism on the relationship between democracy and public administration.

The Character of Democracy: How Institutions Shape Politics offers a uniquely comprehensive overview of the major democratic institutions found around the world, including electoral systems, party systems, presidential and parliamentary governments, legislatures, federalism, and constitutional courts. The authors first present five broad categories of democratic ideals that reflect the consent of the governed--meaningful elections, fair representation, accountability, majority rule and minority rights, and the functionality of the state--and then explain how well different institutional designs live up to these democratic ideals. For each institution, they provide an in-depth treatment of its related literature, describe variations in how it is structured around the world, and explain why these variations are important to how democratic political systems work. Case studies of the political structures found in Brazil, Germany, Japan, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States illustrate how differences in institutional design affect democratic government. Taking an analytical and scholarly approach that does not advocate any particular democratic design, The Character of Democracy is ideal for advanced courses in comparative politics and/or democratic institutions.