Bureaucracies Quote by Howard J. Wiarda
““It is important to remember that bureaucratic politics and rivalry are not just matters of competing for primacy in foreign policy - although they are that too. Rather, most bureaucratic competition comes from the fact that these bureaucracies often have overlapping jurisdictions on policy matters and that each may have legitimate but differing responsibilities. For example, both the CIA and the Defense Department have large intelligence-gathering operations, and at times these overlap and compete; at the same time, the State Department and Defense Department both have important but very different responsibilities in American foreign policy-making, and it is quite understandable that these are not always in exact accord.””
About This Quote
Bureaucratic competition arises from overlapping duties and differing responsibilities, not just power struggles.
In simple terms: Overlap in duties causes bureaucratic competition.
Key Takeaway
Clarify roles to reduce conflict.
Themes
politics
bureaucracy
policy
interagency
Mood
analytical
neutral
Type
strategic
informative
When to use this quote
- government planning
- policy implementation
- interagency meetings
Key Concepts
organizational theory
jurisdiction
collaboration
Questions to Reflect On
- How can agencies better coordinate?
- What mechanisms reduce jurisdictional conflict?
A Different Perspective
Overlapping authority can still cause inefficiency despite clear mandates.
![“In the absence of expert [senior military] advice, we have seen each successive administration fail in the business of strategy - yielding a United States twice as rich as the Soviet Union but much less strong. Only the manner of the failure has changed. In the 1960s, under Robert S. McNamara, we…” quote by Edward Luttwak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b55/edward-luttwak-63709_art-of-war_in-the-absence-of-expert-senior-military_133876.jpg)
