Federal bureaucrat bashing has a long history in this country. In recent years Ronald Reagan, in particular, played on the public's resentment of the federal bureaucracy. For Reagan and his devoted audiences the federal bureaucrat was a symbol represent ing many of the qualities that are wrong with present-day society. Four dominant images of the federal bureaucrat emerge from Ronald Reagan's Public Papers. Reagan depicted the federal bureaucrat primarily as a loafer, incompetent buffoon, good ole boy, and tyrant. It is possible that these images were so well-received by much of the public because of widespread ambivalence about our organizational society.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Ashford, N. (1990). The conservative agenda and the Reagan presidency . In J. Hogan (Ed.), The Reagan years: The record in presidential leadership (pp. 189-213). Manchester, England: Manchester University Press.
2.
Ban, C., & Ingraham, P. (1984). Legislating bureaucratic change: The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. Albany, NY: The State University Press of New York.
3.
Compact edition of the Oxford English dictionary. (1971). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
4.
Dallek, R. (1984). Ronald Reagan: The politics of symbolism. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
5.
Dunn, C., & Woodard, J. (1990). Ideological images for a television age: Ronald Reagan as party leader. In D. M. Hill, R. A. Moore & P. Williams (Eds.), The Reagan presidency: An incomplete revolution ? (pp. 115-131). New York: St. Martin's Press.
6.
Edelman, M. (1964). The symbolic uses of politics. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
7.
Elder, C., & Cobb, R. (1983). The political uses of symbols. New York: Longman.
8.
Hertsgaard, M. (1988). On bended knee: The press and the Reagan presidency . New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux .
9.
Heyer, G. (1964). Seelenkunde im umbrich der zeit. Stuttgart: Hans Huber Verlag.
10.
Kelman, S. (1990). Reaganism and managing the government. In P. Boyer (Ed.), Reagan as president (pp. 56-59). Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher.
11.
Lowi, T. (1985). The personal president: Power invested, promise unfulfilled. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
12.
Mosher, F. (1982). Democracy and the public service (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
13.
National Commission for the Public Service. ( 1989). Leadership for America: Rebuilding the public service . Washington, D.C.
14.
Odajynk, V. (1976). Jung and politics: The political and social ideas of C. G. JungNew York: New York University Press.
15.
Presthus, R. (1978). The organizational society (revised ed.)New York: St. Martin's Press.
16.
Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Ronald Reagan (1981-1988). Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office.
17.
Radin, B. (1990, February 11). Book Review of Bureaucracy: What agencies do and why they do it. New York Times Book Review.
18.
Third parties out of the bottle. (1968, September 13). Time, p. 20.
19.
Turner, M. (1988). The Reagan White House, the Cabinet and the bureaucracy . In J. Lees & M. Turner (Eds.), Reagan's first four years: A new beginning ? (pp. 39-68). Manchester, England: Manchester University Press.
20.
Van Riper, P. (1958). History of the United States civil service. Evanston, IL: Row, Peterson and Company.
21.
Wallace's army: The Coalition of frustration. (1968, October 18). Time, p. 18.
22.
Whitmont, E. (1978). The symbolic quest: Basic concepts of analytical psychology. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
