Unit 2
Public Bureaucracy in Theory and Practice

Unit 2 provides the conceptual tools necessary to define public bureaucracy and to appreciate the diversity of perspectives found in the scholarly literature that examines the character of public bureaucracy. While the unit commentary and assigned readings focus on the conceptual and theoretical fundamentals that underpin scholarly studies of public bureaucracy, the chapter by Reg Whitaker offers an examination of politics and administration that gives a refreshing historical examination of the real world of politicians and bureaucrats.

Learning Objectives

When you have completed Unit 2, you should be able to achieve the following learning objectives:

1. Offer a definition of public bureaucracy and discuss competing perspectives on the character of public bureaucracy
2. Identify and describe the basic organizational forms of Canada’s public bureaucracy
3. Contrast the essential characteristics of a Weberian ideal type bureaucracy and the type of public bureaucracy advocated by proponents of the NPM and post-bureaucratic organizational models
4. Explain and comment on what is meant by the politics/administration dichotomy