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It's easy to criticise, but I'd be interested to know 1. Some key ways in which this model breaks down outside of the West, 2. A good summary of the literature

It's easy to criticise, but I'd be interested to know 1. Some key ways in which this model breaks down outside of the West, 2. A good summary of the literature you mention?

jameshart 5y ago
It doesn’t break down outside the west - it doesn’t even understand how this dynamic plays out in the west. Look at the terms of reference here: “Why can't the political appointees and the technocrats be formally separated in the same way as the executive, the legislative and the judiciary?” - I mean, this is laughable. It asks why something can’t be done that manifestly is done in many government systems. It takes as a given though that executive, legislative and judiciary separation is always practiced, which is a little like assuming you have the right to remain silent when arrested everywhere in the world. As an example of the kind of system that this simple dividing line with politicians on top and technocrats below breaks down, look at the role of organizations like the military in Pakistan, Turkey or Thailand - or of theocratic bodies in countries like Iran. For the kicker, consider the reporting in this Axios article about the relationship between the Trump whitehouse and the Pentagon bureaucracy: https://www.axios.com/off-the-rails-trump-military-withdraw-afghanistan-5717012a-d55d-4819-a79f-805d5eb3c6e2.html https://www.axios.com/off-the-rails-trump-military-withdraw-... - and map that to a simple horizontal line with politicians on top and technocrats below. As for a literature survey - I mean, bureaucracy or ‘administration studies’ is practically a sub-field of political science. It’s probably the subject of a lecture in most intro level undergrad classes, and I’d expect a decent political science program to have one or two upper level classes on the subject. Comparative politics might be a fruitful topic to search on. There are journals. This is not untrodden material.
- sideshowb 5y ago
  Tbf I don't have time to dog into journals on the subject, we're browsing hn here after all and short summaries are appreciated. But since penning that comment I'm feeling a little more educated by https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/03/16/book-review-seeing-like-a-state/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/03/16/book-review-seeing-lik...

It's easy to criticise, but I'd be interested to know 1. Some key ways in which this model breaks down outside of the West, 2. A good summary of the literature you mention?

jameshart 5y ago

It doesn’t break down outside the west - it doesn’t even understand how this dynamic plays out in the west. Look at the terms of reference here: “Why can't the political appointees and the technocrats be formally separated in the same way as the executive, the legislative and the judiciary?” - I mean, this is laughable. It asks why something can’t be done that manifestly is done in many government systems. It takes as a given though that executive, legislative and judiciary separation is always practiced, which is a little like assuming you have the right to remain silent when arrested everywhere in the world. As an example of the kind of system that this simple dividing line with politicians on top and technocrats below breaks down, look at the role of organizations like the military in Pakistan, Turkey or Thailand - or of theocratic bodies in countries like Iran. For the kicker, consider the reporting in this Axios article about the relationship between the Trump whitehouse and the Pentagon bureaucracy: https://www.axios.com/off-the-rails-trump-military-withdraw-afghanistan-5717012a-d55d-4819-a79f-805d5eb3c6e2.html https://www.axios.com/off-the-rails-trump-military-withdraw-... - and map that to a simple horizontal line with politicians on top and technocrats below. As for a literature survey - I mean, bureaucracy or ‘administration studies’ is practically a sub-field of political science. It’s probably the subject of a lecture in most intro level undergrad classes, and I’d expect a decent political science program to have one or two upper level classes on the subject. Comparative politics might be a fruitful topic to search on. There are journals. This is not untrodden material.

sideshowb 5y ago
Tbf I don't have time to dog into journals on the subject, we're browsing hn here after all and short summaries are appreciated. But since penning that comment I'm feeling a little more educated by https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/03/16/book-review-seeing-like-a-state/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/03/16/book-review-seeing-lik...