ABSTRACT
The rational-choice or public-choice school has produced very influential explanations and criticisms of the nature and growth of bureaucracy under democratic rule. The most famous and influential of these models of bureaucracy is that of William Niskanen (1971, 1973), though the earlier work of Anthony Downs (1967) is also important. Patrick Dunleavy (1991) has described Niskanen as a ‘New Right’ thinker and Downs as a ‘pluralist’. This tells us something about their conclusions. At first glance Downs and Niskanen seem diametrically opposed, Downs (1960) concluding in an early article that ‘the government budget is too small’, whilst Niskanen argues that bureaucracies are inefficient and budgets much larger than they should be.
