Bureaucracy And Activism : How Public Art Essay

Throughout the rigmarole of political history of the United States of America, the growth of the “fourth branch of government”, the Bureaucracy, has been a prominent, controversial topic. Peter Woll, in his article “Constitutional Democracy and Bureaucratic Power”, and James Q. Wilson, in his article “The Rise of the Bureaucratic State”, discuss this developing administrative branch. The Constitution has no written mention of an “administrative branch”, and today’s Bureaucracy is often tedious, corrupt, and even undemocratic. But such a branch’s development and expansion is necessary in order to keep par with an evolving and changing society.

In his book, Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies do and why they do it, James Q. Wilson’s main objective is to better define the behavior of governmental bureaucracy, believing traditional organizational and economic theory does not adequately explain their actions. Wilson believes that government agencies are doomed to be perceived as inefficient entities by the public. He gives examples of commonly held perceptions of bureaucracies and reveals how these are mostly misconceptions. He points to the environment of bureaucracy, where rules and procedures, dictate goals, along with context, constraints, values, and norms.

The bureaucracy

However, among the causes which negatively connote bureaucracy, but which are debunked in the article, we can find also the need for a privatization for bureaucracy in order to successfully create an efficient system and a more standardization of the latter which treats citizens as simple numbers.

Philosopher Arthur Danto, author of “The Artworld,” an artistic criticism, states that “to see something as art requires something that the eye cannot descry—an atmosphere of artistic theory, a knowledge of the history of art: an artworld” (201). Artistic theory, according to Danto, requires the presence of a subject, style, rhetorical ellipses, and that of historical context. Danto is capable of developing this view on art with the aid of an imaginary character, Testadura. Testadura, however, makes mistakes, as well as corrections, about the objects before him.

The word “bureaucracy” has a negative connotation to many people. The fact is that our current system of government would not be able to survive without bureaucracies. The bureaucracy has become the “fourth branch” of the government, it has quasi-legislative and judicial powers and in it’s own field its authority is rarely challenged. The presence of these large, inefficient structures is necessary if the American people want to continue receiving the benefits that they expect.

This culture of professionalism will prevent bureaucrats from becoming lazy or malicious in their intents; the other bureaucrats won’t allow such behavior to be tolerated. This culture will act as in inner check against any potential wrongdoing by the bureaucracy. Thus, checks by the other government branches is completely unnecessary. When combined with the other branches inability to be experts in all of the bureaucracy’s activities, it is also only risks the other branches decreasing the efficiency of the bureaucracy. On the other hand, Finer argued that those checks by the other branches is what prevented the bureaucrats from giving into their poor human nature. Additionally, these checks act to give some democratic control over an otherwise completely undemocratic branch of government. In a democracy, that is completely unacceptable; the judicial branch’s final say in how laws are interpreted, congress’ ability to appropriate agencies’ budgets and approve nominees, and the president’s ability to nominate those nominees is necessary for the bureaucracy to maintain legitimacy with the American public.

Bureaucracy was one of the most popular theories developed and is used in some modern organisations such as the NHS and the Police. Through the years bureaucracy has developed a bad reputation for de-humanizing jobs (Grey, 30) “In the ideal-type, people are no more than parts in a well-oiled machine –devoid of passion, prejudice and personality”, although some people prefer this structure (Handy, 22) “No one, it seems, approves of bureaucracy except, interestingly, lots of people in organisations who like to know where they stand.”

With the creation of new states and the intervention of government in everyday life of citizens necessitated the need for ideal-type of bureaucracy. Everywhere whether in developed or developing nations, bureaucratic structure is a common phenomenon.

In this essay, I will discuss the variables that shape people’s minds about the role of bureaucracy. In the first section of this paper I will define bureaucracy with special emphasis on the United States (U.S.) government. Then, in the second section of this paper, I will list and analyze the factors that people perceive as negative in the development of bureaucracy. Lastly, in the last section of this paper, I will mention a few elements that the correct exercise of bureaucracy does right.

Arthur C. Danto in “The Artworld” provides us with the argument that, “To see something as art requires something that the eye cannot descry-an atmosphere of artistic theory, a knowledge of the history of art: an artworld.” Danto shows us the importance of the artworld in order to know that a work of art is more than just what we can plainly see. Danto provides two theories he calls the “IT” (Imitation theory) and the “RT” (Reality theory). With these two theories, Danto explains how we can define art and why “The Artworld” is needed to help understand art, because after all, “these days one might not be aware he was on artistic terrain without an artistic theory to tell him so.”

Albert Campus’s quote could be interpreted in many ways. Art has always been known as a way that people may express themselves or their views freely. Campus displays this when he states, “without freedom, no art.” It has been known that with the increase of freedom given to specific artists, those very artists often tend to take that opportunity to both denounce and expose the negative aspects within specific societies. Without that very freedom that Albert Campus is speaking of, there is no chance of the existence of art. By stating that “art lives only in the restraints it imposes on itself...” Campus is giving insight into the fact in many situations, artist are often forced to develop within the means of the government.

As literary critics, Plato and Aristotle disagree profoundly about the value of art in human society. Plato attempts to strip artists of the power and prominence they enjoy in his society, while Aristotle tries to develop a method of inquiry to determine the merits of an individual work of art. It is interesting to note that these two disparate notions of art are based upon the same fundamental assumption: that art is a form of mimesis, imitation. Both philosophers are concerned with the artist's ability to have significant impact on others. It is the imitative function of art which promotes disdain in Plato and curiosity in Aristotle. Examining the reality that art

The answer to how so many people could go along comes about from the detached awareness that goes along with bureaucratic life due to the separation of tasks. Bauman points out a flaw in the bureaucratic system in that due to the extreme compartmentalized nature of bureaucracies, those within the system can become so entrenched that they lose sight of the end goal (Bauman 2001, 86). This assessment asserts that because of the compartmentalized structure of a hierarchical society, it is almost a given that eventually the ends and purpose of the bureaucracy would be blurred to those within it. Another point Bauman brings up is that of the dehumanization of those working within the bureaucracy, often reducing them to generic technical terms. This lack of awareness for end goals is incredibly dangerous and can lead to horrific systematic violence like that carried out during the Holocaust.

Who is to say a work of art is good or bad? But the underlying issue is whether or not the government funding should be restricted. One of the most thought-provoking concepts and quite possibly the answer to the problem is the idea supported by Douglas's statement: "Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions" (14).