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Public Policy and Bureaucracy

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Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance
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Synonyms

Policy and administration; Specialized institutions of the state and policy implementation

Definition

Public policy and bureaucracy refer to the interaction between public bureaucracy and public policy in a modern society and how both shape and influence each other in the political process.

Introduction

Public policy denotes the activities of government directed to achieve the stated objectives of government in many policy areas. Implementation is a crucial aspect of the policy process and so makes the bureaucracy very critical. Effective bureaucracies are supposed to ensure that goals of governmental policies are implemented. Bureaucracy for Max Weber was the most advanced form of human organization that society had devised and the most rational means for the performance of collective tasks, especially those requiring large-scale organization. Because of the complexity of modern public administration, the role of the bureaucracies (otherwise known as public administrators)...

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Correspondence to Maryam Omolara Quadri .

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Quadri, M.O. (2020). Public Policy and Bureaucracy. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_188-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_188-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

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