The Fourth Branch of Government [The Bureaucracy: Brazil (1985)]

Everyone loves to criticize the bureaucracy -- for, "the lady at the DMV was rude and lackadaisical! I spent six hours waiting to get my driver's license renewed." Fortunately, America is slightly better off than the characters in Brazil (1985). In the film, the Ministry of Information falsely convict Mr. Buttle instead of Mr. Tuttle. Ultimately, Buttle somehow dies, and the Kutzman and Sam Lowery stumble upon their mistake. In order to fix the forbidden error, the two create a refund check for Mrs. Buttle. Of course Mrs. Buttle is furious and demands to know where her husband's body is. The reaction between Mrs. Buttle and Mr. Lowery symbolizes the twisted relationship between citizens and bureaucrats. Director Terry Gillam isn't the only one who depicts this:

Some political scientists take the disapproval a step further, charging the bureaucracies with inefficiency and excessive spending.

In "Don't Blame the Bureaucracy," H. Brinton Milward, a bureaucrat in the Department of Management and Hal G. Rainey, a bureaucrat in the Department of Public Administration, seek to defend bureaucracies, crying that they are merely scapegoats. The authors explain that advising the agencies to act like a business is hopeless for society’s prioritize transparency and equality. Milward and Rainey also point out that government often faces contradicting and complex goals that are further complicated by special interests and Congress.

More so than not, people label ALL government institutions as corrupt. Perhaps the agencies are "extra," corrupt because so many other crooked bodies are demanding solutions. In "Political Influence on the Bureaucracy: The Bureaucracy Speaks," Scott Furlong concludes that through the perspective of agency officials, Congress and the executive branch are most influential. In independent regulatory commissions, interest groups and the courts are more influential.

Instead of bitching while typing away on your laptops still in your pajamas, Americans need to participate more! With more input from citizens, agencies can weigh the wants from us and the government. It turns out some of us are actively communicating - senior citizens. In "Close Encounters of the Bureaucratic Kind: Older Americans and Bureaucracy," Steven A. Peterson reports on the influence senior citizens have on bureaucracies calculating in the individuals' needs, awareness and assumption that contacting an agency is political participation. Peterson concludes that a citizen is more likely to use a bureaucratic program (such as Social Security or Food Stamps) if there is need, group consciousness and low political efficacy. Political efficacy is the power one has to have the impact they want. Second, Peterson concludes that citizens are more likely to contact an agent official with high efficacy, interest, education, group consciousness, and less need.

Perhaps, Peterson only surveyed senior citizens because the rest of us were too busy on blogging or on Facebook. Bye.