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Bureaucracy

Name:

University Affiliation:

Instructors Name:

Date:
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Summary of the Article

The New York Times, "Opinion | Donald Trump, Bureaucracy Apprentice", Nytimes.Com, last

modified 2017, accessed April 19, 2017,

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/02/opinion/donald-trump-bureaucracy

apprentice.html.

The article tries to delineate how the American new President, Trump, finds himself in an

unfamiliar political administration environment whereby he is charged with overseeing a vast

federal bureaucracy. Interestingly, as the article posits, neither him nor his cabinet nominees

have a clue of how to go about the vast federal bureaucracy. The President finds it puzzling that

his presidential orders can be defied or rather blocked by a federal judge. Further, Trump has

already upended venerable foreign policy as a result of his unfamiliarity with the federal

bureaucracy as well as the formalities associated with how the government system works as a

whole. The article posits that as much as Trump’s new administration thinks that the federal

government is a loophole for goldbricking as well as wasting public resources, it must be noted

that the federal bureaucracy plays a significant role with regards to hunting tax cheats, enforcing

environment laws as well as tracking terrorists.

The article also points out the incessant criticisms relayed by the novice Republican

government towards bureaucracy hence belittling the whole concept. According to the article’s

authors, the Trump’s new government seem to be uncomfortable with the federal workers and

even complains of what they refer to as “lifetime tenure.” What the new incumbents do not

understand is that the bureaucracy ideology or rather concept was ratified by the American

constitution in order to protect the federal workers from any form of political intimidation hence

work objectively towards giving the desires justice as well as service. In summation, the article
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contends that Trumps administration has come in and tried to unsuccessfully tame the federal

government as well as bureaucracy, which was formed for checks and balances. However,

Trump's notable interference with the federal bureaucracy has left the workers unnerved as well

as unmotivated.

Critical Analysis

The summarized article above clearly puts into perspective the significance of

bureaucracy as discussed in class. Evidently, from the article, one gets to understand that

bureaucracy plays an integral role as far as the functioning of all the government’s branches are

concerned. In other words, bureaucracy helps in ensuring that the legislature, executive, federal

governments as well as the judicial systems work in harmony in the interest of serving the

public. Bureaucracy helps in ensuring that no single branch of the government or rather agency

undermines the other hence objectivity is realized throughout the system. The article clearly

shades light to the course theme, bureaucracy, hence giving profound perspectives with regards

to its role in administering of services to the citizens. From the article, it is evident that

bureaucracy is fundamental in any political setting as it brings continuity from one government

to the other hence allows for a smooth transition.

As the article clearly puts it, bureaucracy is indeed a collective memory of the systems in

place as it prevents disharmony and chaos within the government since everyone’s obligations is

clearly stated. Even in the middle of a disaster, bureaucracy gives the way forward hence solving

any probable challenge or puzzle. This can be closely associated with the example of J.F

Kennedy’s assassination crisis whereby bureaucracy helped to ensure that there was no

breakdown of government. After Kennedy’s assassination, there was no struggle of power

between the different levels of powers within the government as bureaucracy spelt out what
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needed to be done and as such, the government functions were still performed accordingly.

Ultimately, from the above discussion, it is evident that the course theme, bureaucracy, is an

important aspect in the daily running of the government’s affairs.

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Bibliography

The New York Times, The New York Times. "Opinion | Donald Trump, Bureaucracy

Apprentice". Nytimes.Com. Last modified 2017. Accessed April 19, 2017.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/02/opinion/donald-trump-bureaucracy

apprentice.html.