Bureaucracy Basics: Crash Course Government and Politics Video

Watch this humorous explanation of the workings of a very big bureaucracy, the federal government, from PBS. Then choose the most appropriate answer for each of the following questions.

. When the narrator asks the camera person if he must really fill out and initial all 3 copies of the form before he can begin, he is asking about his organization's _________.

. The definition of bureaucracy he put on the screen included several characteristics of bureaucracies, including the existence of rules. Max Weber's Theory of Bureaucracy called these guidelines governing performance and centralization of decision making ___________.

. The narrator explained that one of the benefits of bureaucracies is that they allow the dividing up of complex tasks so thigs can get done. The Theory of Bureaucracy would call this __________.

. The narrator explains that the federal government's rule-making process allows for a degree of popular participation, demonstrating that it operates as a(n) __________.

. He also explains that many bureaucratic positions are filled through competitive, exam-based procedure designed to ensure expertise and take politics out of the hiring process. This protocol demonstrates the operation of which of the 5 characteristics (Weber's plus Scott's) of bureaucracies?

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