EFFECTIVE POLITICAL CONTROL OF BUREAUCRACY: THE CASE OF HAWAII'S PRISON SYSTEM

ABSTRACT

The problem addressed in this study is that of rendering a prison bureaucracy accountable to formal political authority. It is proposed that resolving this problem requires: political development; a supportive political culture; and sufficient bureaucratic resources. In order to test a related hypothesis, an index of political development was constructed and applied. The impact of the political culture and the organizational capacity of the prison bureaucracy were also assessed.

Study findings are that the bureaucracy generally had the capacity to comply with formal directives but did not do so. Concurrently, the political culture was not supportive and political development can be described as regressive.