13.7: Big Government

When Americans complain about “big government” they are mostly complaining about the bureaucracy under the executive branch. Critics deride the bureaucracy as expansive, expensive, sclerotic, complex, and hopelessly inefficient. So-called “faceless bureaucrats,” who mostly operate in the shadows and are not accountable to the public through regular elections, are accused of incompetence, corruption, or even active sabotage against the will of the people.

As much as Americans dislike big government’s problems, though, they also like the benefits it offers. The expansions of bureaucratic size and scope promoted by the Progressives were controversial, but many (such as Social Security and Medicare) have become so popular over time that today most politicians are afraid to even suggest paring them back. The more people expect from government, the larger it needs to be to meet those expectations. The larger government gets, the more prone it becomes to principal-agent problems.

Bureaucratic efficiency is not an oxymoron. Some bureaucracies are more efficient than others, and we know from the work of Weber (and others who followed in his footsteps) ways to encourage that efficiency. At the same time, many of the things Americans want out of their bureaucracy are essentially incompatible. The United States cannot spend more while also taxing less and balancing its budget. It cannot cultivate more expertise in its departments and agencies while also subjecting those experts to greater democratic accountability. And it definitely can’t solve all its bureaucratic issues by running government “like a business.” Businesses outperform governments in many ways, but they do so in response to the pressures of market competition and without many of the limitations we insist be placed on our democracy.

Perhaps a future iteration of DOGE will be more successful in its attempts to tame bureaucratic bloat. Perhaps the United States will simply continue to lament the problems of bureaucracy without ever mustering the political will necessary to implement effective solutions. Either way, Weber was right about one thing: a modern political machine like America depends on constant maintenance by a vast supply of technicians—bureaucrats—to ensure that it runs smoothly.