James Wilson And Bureaucracy

Wilson's main theme throughout this book is that the reason American agencies are operated the way they are is, because of the way we as a society have designed them to be run. Wilson argues that bureaucrats are people who are behaving in response to the incentives, laws, rules and organizational structures that make up our public agencies. Wilson identifies three organizational levels, the technical or operator's level, the manager's level, and the executive or …

…designed to perform and lessen the unnecessary red tape they are required to adhere to. Wilson lists three constraints that are common characteristics of public agencies. The control over revenues, the inability to allocate the resources in accord with the preferences of the organization, and agency goals are vested in groups that are external to the organization. These are largely legislatures, courts, politicians, and interest groups. These governmental constraints limit the efficiency of each organization.