Julio, Alloe WK2 Key Ideas 1- Problems of Administrative Structure: United States (Peters, pages 137-139) According to Peters (138) there is a wide array of types of organizations in the United States bureaucracy.  Among them, the Department of Defense stands out due to its size and organizational structure.  The DoD composition of a military and a civilian workforce can be a clear representation of bureaucratic and political administrative structures.   The military workforce tends to be representative of a more political approach.  This is because military members have short term positions within various DoD agencies in order to network for their next assignment.  In addition, since the military workforce takes a more nomadic approach because they have term limits to their assignments.  In contrast, the civilian workforce tends to follow a more bureaucratic structure by providing a more sedentary workforce.  This provides a sense of constancy to the department.  Both workforces support the same objective, but their responsibilities vary in nature.  Bureaucracy and Interest Groups (Peters, pages 169-171) Peters (169) opens this section establishing that the decisions stemming from the conflict between “…the demands of interest groups and the role of bureaucracy…” as a cornerstone of government.  In other words, intervention by bureaucrats is essential for the government to function.  Interest groups intervene in the decision-making process to instigate and point government servants toward their group goals.  Lobbyists tend to be skilled operators representing special interest groups.  They have the tools and know-how of the legislative process in order to gather support from government servants.  Their goal is generally to make cater to their special interest group by influencing slight changes to bills prior to becoming law.  These changes to laws tend to benefit the special interest group represented.   A recent example of special interest groups in the news are some of the communities following Colorado’s legalization of marijuana.  This has led to an energized debate of the pros and cons of marijuana legalization in many states.  The debates are generally composed of new tax revenue, the cost of regulation, enforcement, and public safety.     3- Competition among Agencies (Peters, pages 202-204) Another intriguing concept presented by Peters (203) is that of bureaucratic competition.  Peters argues that this type of competition may affect government performance and/or lack of coherence.  Agencies generally have to compete or meet goals set by their directorate or manager.  Ultimately, many government agencies need to justify their existence and/or demonstrate their need for money for future budgets.  As a continuation of the example of the legalization of marijuana, there are a handful of government agencies competing and arguing for their own interests.  For instance, the tax department seeks to get money out of taxes generated by ...

1. Julio, Alloe
WK2 Key Ideas
1- Problems of Administrative Structure: United States (Peters,
pages 137-139)
According to Peters (138) there is a wide array of types of
organizations in the United States bureaucracy. Among them,
the Department of Defense stands out due to its size and
organizational structure. The DoD composition of a military
and a civilian workforce can be a clear representation of
bureaucratic and political administrative structures. The
military workforce tends to be representative of a more political
approach. This is because military members have short term
positions within various DoD agencies in order to network for
their next assignment. In addition, since the military workforce
takes a more nomadic approach because they have term limits to
their assignments. In contrast, the civilian workforce tends to
follow a more bureaucratic structure by providing a more
sedentary workforce. This provides a sense of constancy to the
department. Both workforces support the same objective, but
their responsibilities vary in nature.
Bureaucracy and Interest Groups (Peters, pages 169-171)
Peters (169) opens this section establishing that the decisions
stemming from the conflict between “…the demands of interest
groups and the role of bureaucracy…” as a cornerstone of
government. In other words, intervention by bureaucrats is
essential for the government to function. Interest groups
intervene in the decision-making process to instigate and point
government servants toward their group goals. Lobbyists tend
to be skilled operators representing special interest groups.
They have the tools and know-how of the legislative process in
order to gather support from government servants. Their goal is
generally to make cater to their special interest group by

2. influencing slight changes to bills prior to becoming law. These
changes to laws tend to benefit the special interest group
represented.
A recent example of special interest groups in the news are
some of the communities following Colorado’s legalization of
marijuana. This has led to an energized debate of the pros and
cons of marijuana legalization in many states. The debates are
generally composed of new tax revenue, the cost of regulation,
enforcement, and public safety.
3- Competition among Agencies (Peters, pages 202-204)
Another intriguing concept presented by Peters (203) is that of
bureaucratic competition. Peters argues that this type of
competition may affect government performance and/or lack of
coherence. Agencies generally have to compete or meet goals
set by their directorate or manager. Ultimately, many
government agencies need to justify their existence and/or
demonstrate their need for money for future budgets. As a
continuation of the example of the legalization of marijuana,
there are a handful of government agencies competing and
arguing for their own interests. For instance, the tax
department seeks to get money out of taxes generated by the
new cash crop. Law enforcement is going to be concerned as to
how many plants of marijuana are a legal amount to have in the
backyard of a house or how to measure the level of sobriety
when operating a motor vehicle. These are outcomes of when
marijuana becomes legalized in the local area. Agencies, with
varying objectives, find themselves competing for position in
order to gain budgetary visibility to address and fund the issues
associated with legalizing marijuana.
B. Debra

3. 2 Key Ideas
1- Organization by area served, Peters, location 3184-3270
Organization by area served varies greatly between countries
and tends to be divided by the degree of centralization (2010,
Loc 3184). Peters identifies two options for addressing the
challenge or managing territories; these include controlling
policy implementation through the central government and
implementation through administrative means. Implementation
and control of policies through centralization takes the form of
intermediary representatives, commonly referred to as prefects.
The prefectoral systems tend to be more common in France,
Italy, and Japan (2010, Loc 3196). The more decentralized
version of policy implementation is commonly found in the
United States as well as other countries. This can be seen
through state and local government enforcing national policies;
however there are challenges with this type of governance as
well. These challenges include the way that policies are
interpreted, the way they are implemented, and to some extent if
they will be implemented (2010, Loc 3233).
Peters also discusses how decentralization can also be viewed as
a challenge by the public due to the increased size of
government, increased expenditures, and/or limited services.
Interestingly, the decentralization of government seems to be
intended to more efficiently support the areas served, even if
the impression is quite the opposite (2010, Loc 3270). The
decentralization is also intended to better support the cultural
differences amongst the public, but this again may not always
be interpreted to be the most effective or efficient.
2- Social movements and the bureaucracy, Peters, location
4506-4518
Social movements are discussed in terms of their similarities

4. and differences as interest groups. These types of interest
groups vary from conventional interest groups in that they tend
to be short-lived, focusing on a single issue; focus on social,
non-economic issues; and are less stable and institutionalized
(2010, Loc 4506). These groups also differ in that they do not
tend to interact directly with the government. Not all social
movements follow the differences previously identified. Peters
recognizes the environmental movement with some interest
groups that behavior conventionally and have remained relevant
over a longer period of time (2010, Loc 4518). Similarly, it
would seem that there are some gender equality rights interest
groups which would fall into this same category.
3- The possession of managerial skills, Peters, location 4832-
4882
Peters distinguishes managerial skills as more relevant to public
bureaucrats rather than politicians due to the need to manage
governmental departments (2010, Loc 4832). Although specific
skills are not identified, bureaucrats tend to require strong
managerial skills over their programs and organizations as they
are held accountable by politicians and the public at large. The
accountability of these bureaucrats is often difficult to measure
because most do not produce, but rather provide a service
(2010, Loc 4857).
Changes in assessing performance within the public sector have
unfortunately lead to some challenges. Responses to these
challenges have been “directed at producing better internal
management and enhanced capacity for control from the center”
(2010, Loc 4869). Finally, Peters notes that other challenges
exist due to public and private sector collaborations to provide
services (2010, Loc 4882). This seems to be a double-edged
sword situation though because as government organization face
reduced budgets, this public-private sector collaboration is one
of the primary ways to continue offering certain services.