What’s Wrong with the Executive Branch in One Paragraph

Paul Light of New York University passes along this interesting tidbit about the growth of the executive branch in his Wall Street Journal op-ed today:

In 1961, according to my analysis, John F. Kennedy oversaw 450 political and career executives who occupied 17 bureaucratic layers at the top of government. Mr. Trump will soon oversee more than 3,000 executives in 63 layers. This leads to a Washington hallmark: titles like chief of staff to the deputy assistant secretary. Such complexity distorts information as it travels up the chain of command, and then thwarts guidance on the way down.

If you don’t think this state of affairs favors the bureaucracy you’re not paying attention in class.

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