Question

Myths and realities concerning the budget"

"Americans dislike the bureaucrats

Bureaucracies are growing bigger each year

Most federal bureaucrats work in Washington D.C.

Bureaucracies are ineffective, inefficient, and always mired in red tape."

What are the realities about the myths above?

Answer 1

It is a myth that Americans dislike bureaucrats. They make or may not like bureaucracy but favor individual bureaucrats. 2/3 Americans describe bureaucrats as helpful, efficient, fair and courteous. Thus, Americans are gwgeneral satisfied with bureaucrats.

Coming to the second myth, the number of federal employees have actually shrunk. Only 2% civilian workforce is employed in federal government. However, many state and local employees provide services to federal government and work on federally funded programs. The number of government employees are increasing though. So, the statement is half true and half false.

Most federal bureaucrats work in Washington DC is a myth

Fewer than 20% of federal bureaucrats work in Washington DC. Texas lead the nation with 153k federal bureaucrats.

The fourth myth is that bureaucracy is inefficient, ineffective and always mired in red tape. However, no one has found the substitute for bureaucracy. The government bureaucracy is seen to be more efficient than private bureaucracies.