Headlines are all about politicians, but the real people that maintain democracy are the public workers who shape the lives of everyday Americans. Politics and democracy do not just stay in the Capitol, it lives in schools, housing offices, health clinics and even the DMV. The people that run these systems do not garner enough attention, and the best way to regain trust in politics is to bring awareness to how bureaucracies are the backbone of freedom.
Bureaucracies are the systems that implement and overlook the laws that are made by the legislative branch. In other words, policies are only as effective as bureaucracies are. They run so many services that people often overlook – public transportation, healthcare access, food assistance programs. Our country’s everyday function relies on these programs and people, and so many citizens forget this. When these systems fail, faith isn’t necessarily lost in the agencies, but with the overall concept of democracy. For people to feel like the government isn’t failing them, these bureaucracies do the heavy lifting.
It is very important that these programs exist, but it is even more crucial they are transparent to the public. With legislation (which is often extremely complicated in language), bureaucracies offer a service for Americans to respond with feedback that could be implemented into the law. These people must go through them and see if any suggestions are applicable and should be included in the final documentation. This is how bureaucracies maintain their legitimacy. If programs for the people are not listening to the people they serve, then the whole service loses its impact.
Most Americans care about things that affect them directly. Your next door neighbor cares more about receiving their food stamps than some political rhetoric soundbite. People love and trust their government when it is serving them how it promised – which is the duty of bureaucracies. Without them, democracy fails. Trust is built through competence.
Many feel that bureaucracy is a nuisance — a slow process that gets in the way of things getting done. But, the reality is, they make things more fair and more efficient. It’s simply a democratic institution in action. It’s crucial to invest in the agencies and workers that citizens interact with most. That’s how people trust the government again.
