Blaming bureaucracy : reckoning with a problematic political activity / Markus Hinterleitner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hinterleitner, Markus, 1987- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Political culture.

Political sociology.

Public administration.

Blame.

Physical Description:

1 online resource : illustrations.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, [2025]

Summary:

"Political life in advanced democracies is steeped in negativity toward bureaucracy. Politicians, parties, and the media routinely blame the bureaucracy for all kinds of political, social, or economic problems. Whenever there's controversy to be processed, bureaucracy is often the scapegoat. While one might expect this negativity to be due to the bureaucracy's actual performance, or simply a reflection of more general frustrations with democracy, the truth lies elsewhere. We don't blame the bureaucracy so much because its performance is so poor or because we're fed up with how things are run in our countries, but rather because democracies are characterized by dynamics and discourses in which the bureaucracy quickly finds itself at the receiving end of blame. This book is the first to unpack these dynamics. For many actors, blaming the bureaucracy is the most convenient thing to do in controversial and conflictual situations - of which there are many in modern democracies. Bureaucracy is everyone's favorite scapegoat because it can be plausibly blamed for almost anything and because it is unlikely to fight back. Unfortunately, bureaucracy is far too valuable to be everyone's punching bag. Rampant bureaucracy blaming undermines administrative performance and creates a public discourse in which a weak and curtailed bureaucracy becomes popular. Because bureaucracy blaming threatens to dismantle the very structures that sustain our democracies, this problematic political activity deserves our full attention"-- Oxford Academic.

Contents:

Welcome to blame world

A short history of bureaucracy critique

The bureaucracy’s vulnerability to blame attacks

Politicians’ favorite scapegoat

Why no one is coming to the rescue of bureaucracy

The problematic consequences of bureaucracy blaming

Why we need the bureaucracy more than ever

Toward better bureaucracy blaming.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource and publisher information; title from PDF title page (viewed on September 1, 2025).

Other Format:

Print version: Hinterleitner, Markus, 1987- Blaming bureaucracy.

ISBN:

9780198980186

0198980183

9780198980162

0198980167

OCLC:

1534887690

Publisher Number:

CIPO000285379

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license