| In the public sector, it often appears the major obstacle in the provision of quality services to the public is the government bureaucracy itself. In general, the recipients of public services appear less likely to find favor with governmental bureaucratic political structures over time. This lack of favor may have more to do with a sense of powerlessness or helplessness than sentiments associated with questionable quality of services provided to them by government bureaucracies.;At the same time, the stewards of these bureaucracies enjoy exactly the opposite experience as the recipients of their services namely, power, influence and control. The concern is that the bureaucracy appears to be more successful than those they serve. This success can be measured in the form of bureaucracy survivability, continued and expanding power, and their ever-increasing sphere of influence and control.;A means of testing this thesis lies in analysis of the quality of the products the bureaucracy provides and the degree the recipients of these products are involved in their production. If the quality of the products are poor while the recipients of the products have little to say about their creation and the bureaucracy at the same time becomes more powerful and entrenched, the bureaucracy may be better served than those they serve.;The Veterans' Administration (DVA) of the U.S. Government has a mandate to provide many services to veterans including health care. Bureaucratically, the U.S. Congress and Veteran interest groups with DVA are a part of that mandate.;Given that many perceive the VA health care system to be in crisis, the question becomes is it possible the questionable quality of the product called health care is evidence the iron triangle bureaucracies inadvertently have better served themselves than those they are sworn to serve. If so, it is time for a change in favor of those who rely on these bureaucracies for health care and other services. |
