Political Science I / Politics and Bureaucracy
Practice question · Select all that apply

Which are true of Dunleavy's bureau-shaping critique of Niskanen?

Hints
  1. Three describe the argument and its fit with events; one misstates it.
  2. Bureau-shaping is a self-interest model, just a different one.
Show the answer
  • B. It is consistent with what senior officials actually did in the reform era
  • C. It predicts officials would welcome hiving delivery off to agencies
  • D. It argues senior officials prefer small elite policy units to large budgets
Why

The fourth misses that bureau-shaping is also a self-interest model, it simply identifies a different interest. Officials want interesting work close to power rather than large staffs and industrial-relations problems, which predicts the opposite behaviour to Niskanen and matches what actually happened.

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