The political economy of bureaucratic motivation

In a fragmented and decentralized political system like the United States, power and autonomy are not based solely on technical expertise or constitutional/legal authority. Even centralized and autocratic states depend on local and professional autonomy to govern effectively. In this chapter we describe how political science and public administration study the bureaucracy with a focus on the "political control," and offer an overview of key theories and fundamental assumptions designed to describe bureaucratic behavior/motivation. We also illustrate some controversial assumptions that undergird this scholarship, assess the validity of critiques, and evaluate the political economy approach for examining bureaucratic politics. We argue behavioral approaches and political economic approaches complement the weaknesses of each other, and advocate for a more integrated approach.