01418pab a2200145 454500008004000000100002100040245006200061260000900123300001400132362000800146520102500154650003201179650001601211773004501227180718b2008   xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d  aKaufman, Herbert  aRuminations on the study of American public bureaucracies  c2008  ap.256-63.  aSep  aPublic bureaucracies warrant the attention of political scientists because bureaucrats help determine the contents and effectiveness of public policies. Although the relationships between them and the other participants in public policy making can theoretically range from bureaucratic dominance, or at least autonomy, to passive bureaucratic subservience, most political scientists tend to treat American bureaucrats as significant but not commanding partners in the interplay of checks and balances in the political process. Understanding their roles in this process, however, is beset by ambiguities about when and to what extent their behavior is controlled or controlling. These uncertainities, plus incessant changes in their roles, may mean that we cannot hope for universal, long-enduring generalizations about their place in the polity. Consequently, to fully understand our political system, we must continuously observe, analyze, and reassess the influence they exert and the influences on them. - Reproduced.  aBureaucracy - United States  aBureaucracy  aAmerican Review of Public Administration