for patients have argued that people with dire prognoses should be allowed to use
an experimental treatment as a potentially life-saving last resort.^8 However, FDA
regulations prevent them from doing so except under very special circumstances,
arguing that unapproved treatments may do more harm than good and that allow-
ing wider access to these drugs may tempt manufacturers to market new drugs
without adequate testing.PROCUREMENT
Bureaucrats also handle government purchases, buying everything from pencils
to aircraft carriers. The General Services Administration (GSA) manages 8,600
buildings owned or leased by the government and a fl eet of 208,000 vehicles, and
provides government agencies with most of their supplies.^9
Procurement seems a straightforward task: agencies determine what they
need, fi nd out who can supply it, and choose the lowest-cost provider. How-
ever, procurement for the federal government can be surprisingly complicated.
Consider the purchase of a new model of fi ghter plane or an attack submarine.
Bureaucrats must devise criteria for choosing among designs with very diff erent
strengths and weaknesses. Procurement decisions are also shaped by congres-
sional and executive mandates. For example, when the GSA searches for sup-
pliers of a particular product, it often has to give preference to small businesses
or fi rms owned by minorities or veterans. These guidelines are the result of the
political process, as elected offi cials try to shape government actions to suit their
own policy goals.PROVIDING SERVICES
Street-level bureaucrats provide services to help ordinary Americans.^10 These ser-
vices include certain job-training programs and disaster assistance. In addition,
federal employees manage tourist attractions from the National Zoo to the Statue
of Liberty to Mount Rushmore. They inspect passenger baggage at airports, moni-
tor aircraft maintenance, and direct aircraft in fl ight.RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Government scientists work in areas from medicine to astronomy to agri-
culture. Sometimes they do basic research, such as working for the National
Institutes of Health to discover mechanisms that govern cell reproduction and
death. Government scientists also do applied research, from developing new
cancer drugs to improving crop management techniques. Federal funds support
research in many universities and corporations that examine similar issues.MANAGING AND DIRECTING
Some bureaucrats supervise actions taken by people outside government. For
example, the Department of Defense uses civilian contractors to provide
support services in Afghanistan, from doing laundry to performing main-
tenance work on planes, trucks, and ships. Many workers at government
facilities and public works projects are employees of private corporations
working on government contracts.AFTER NEWS OF AN $800,000 GSA
conference at a Las Vegas resort
came to light in 2012, Congress
held hearings on the agency's
practices. Here, Representative
John Mica criticizes the apparent
misuse of taxpayer money.